Photo by Karl Raschke, courtesy Sub Pop
Low's music has always rewarded careful listening, and its tempos have famously permitted it. Having been lumped in with the slowcore movement for their beautiful and glacial music, the band's name conjures thoughts of songs that move with geological speed.
But it's reductionist to think of them as slowcore. The other ingredients in their musical mix include memorable melodic lines, a sure sense of timbre and atmosphere, drones, the haunting vocal harmonies of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, the anchoring bass of Zak Sally, and an underappreciated sense of humor that has led them to cover songs by the Misfits and Journey.
All are the real musical arrows in Low's quiver and all of it was documented on last year's b-sides compilation, A Lifetime of Temporary Relief). With the tempo positively frantic by the standards of past performances on Long Division, those arrows find their mark in The Great Destroyer.
The album merits a song-by-song review, if only because the band's musical experimentation causes them to stretch in many different directions at once.
The album opener, "Monkey" starts with a wave of fuzzed-out bass, and the bass and guitar stay snarling at the front of the mix throughout. "California" is, by contrast, a slice of sunny pop with memorable harmonies and an oddly hooky chorus ("You had to sell the farm/And go to California where it's warm").
The song falters a bit as it pulls the energy back in the last bridge, turning what would otherwise be a perfect single into just a great song. The same style plus a dash of guitar line a la U2's the Edge, informs "Just Stand Back," a little later in the album, and is deconstructed with distorted vocals, odd stereo placements, hand claps, and crunching guitar lines on "Step."
Article comments
1 - Temple Stark
Timothy J,
I just learned how to add a cutline to a photo. Neato.
I point you to the Alabama music review site of Advance.net.
Your review's up there, loud and proud. Please go and tell your contacts that hundreds of thousands more readers will now have access to your review.
2 - Aaman
What is a cutline, and how do you add it? Do you mean something like "br clear=all"?
3 - Eric Olsen
very very nice review Tim, I am now inclined to go back and listen to my Low Cds, which have lain fallow for some time - thanks!
4 - Tim Jarrett
This is of course off topic, but I think Temple is referring to the caption under the photo. You basically wrap the whole thing in a float; view source on the post to see how it's done.
5 - Temple Stark
cutline=caption
6 - Aaman
Sounds like a good band with a rich ouevre just waiting for me to discover them. Where do I start?
7 - Tim Jarrett
There's no greatest hits for them, but my recommendations would be the new album, "Secret Name," and "Things We Lost In The Fire," in that order. I think their site (http://www.chairkickers.com) and the Sub Pop site both have some downloads if you want to give them a listen.
And of course there's their Christmas album, which I reviewed here a while back:
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/12/08/144716.php
8 - stephen
don't forget "the curtain hits the cast".