Timedoor.com Review
By: Don - timedoor.com
Low is a band that I have seen a lot. Like, more-than-10-times-a-lot. I don’t have an accurate list, but I have probably seen the band every time it has played Milwaukee since 1999. (Other bands in this category include Soul Asylum, Superchunk, and Sleater-Kinney.) I even saw the band when it opened for Luna at Shank Hall in 1994 (its Milwaukee debut?). Though I appreciated the group’s aggressive minimalism, I wasn’t hooked. Yet. I wouldn’t say I became an enthusiastic fan until I heard The Curtain Hits the Cast, released in 1996. Last night’s show found the band still pushing last year’s quietly violent Drums and Guns, a relatively subdued album compared to its predecessor, The Great Destroyer. Well over half the set was comprised of songs from Drums, many of which were played when I saw the band about a year ago in DC. One exception, however, was “Dust on the Window,” sung by drummer Mimi Parker with her delicate quiver of a voice. “Sandinista” was particularly noisy, satisfyingly so. Some Low fans (like my wife) prefer their Low quiet and ascetic. I myself don’t mind the gradual transition to noisier fare that the band has undertaken, even if it means having to endure fans shouting for catchy rockers like “California” and “Dinosaur Act” at almost every show. That’s why I love it when artists throw the audience a curveball by playing a deep cut like low-key “Dust on the Window.” Fans listening for something bouncy probably liked the straightforwardly poppy arrangement given to “Hatchet.” The studio version keeps the guitar in the background. This night, singer/guitarist Alan Sparhawk turned it up. “Murderer” capped the main set. The first time I heard this song, at the last of Josh Modell’s Milky Xmas concerts in 2003, I knew it was my favorite Low song. It begins like a relationship song (“One more thing before I go…”), before becoming what it actually is: a cover letter for the job of Angel of Death. People hoping for older material got to hear “Silver Rider” and “Pissing” from The Great Destroyer, “Last Snowstorm of the Year” from Trust, “Sunflower” and “Dinosaur Act” from Things We Lost in the Fire, and “Soon” from Secret Name was Read More... |
