The Wake

Even if you’ve never heard a song, you’ve likely heard their name. It’s not uncommon to hear stories in passing of Low’s mastery as songsmiths and performers, especially when you’re in Minnesota. Hailing from Duluth, Minn., this trio is the brainchild of tormented genius Alan Sparhawk. He formed the trio with wife Mimi, filtering through three different bassists since they formed in 1993, with Matt Livingston currently holding the honor.

Low’s list of accomplishments is long in length and unquestionable in consequence. They’ve released eight albums to much critical acclaim and a consistent showing in the top ten across the pond. They’ve toured with some of the biggest names in the biz, and released their last album on Sub Pop Records, the label that discovered Nirvana, and has released such recent favorites as The Shins, Postal Service, and Iron and Wine. Despite the fame and legions of loyal fans, Alan Sparhawk stays true to his roots. Raised in rural Minnesota, where he met his wife in the fourth grade, Sparhawk is the king of the Duluth music scene. On any given night Low can be seen playing in the cramped confines of the Pizza Luce or at an area church lit only by candles. Sparhawk also plays with his bluesy, punk trio, Black-Eyed Snakes. They rarely perform, but when they do, it is nothing short of bedlam. There has been talk of one particularly raucous show at the Brewhouse. With the venue well exceeding capacity, enthralled fans were hanging by single limbs from balcony railings. Though the fans were stuffed in shoulder to shoulder, there was constant motion in the crowd. These shows are experiences no attendee can walk away from unmoved. In the spring of 2005, Low went on hiatus just a day before Duluth’s annual Homegrown Music Festival. The temporary split coincided with Sparhawk’s diagnosis of bi-polar disorder and increased inability to get along with the other band members. Bassist Zak Sally was replaced only months later.

In December 2005, Low played several Christmas shows to raise money with the goal of building a school in Kenya. They did the same this December with shows in New York City, Chicago, and here in Minneapolis. They play these shows with their repertoire of holiday songs from the 1999 release, Christmas. One of the songs off this album, “Just Like Christmas,” was featured on OC Mix 3 soundtrack. The school in Kenya is rapidly nearing completion and Sparhawk is just back the tour. He won’t get but a moment’s rest before he’s back at it again. With a show in England on February 15th followed by the Music in Mind Festival in Belgium the day after, their spring tour will be launched. Their CD release show is at First Avenue on the 14th of April. The new album has been eagerly awaited since the release of The Great Destroyer in 2005. The album received a multitude of responses. The group worked with producer Dave Fridmann and found some new sounds. Fans loved the album for it’s turned up amps and slightly more approachable feel (seen on tracks like “Monkey” and “California”). Others felt it a betrayal of feedback and lost harmonies. In this writer’s humble opinion, it was an alluring fusion of their vocal beauty with the desire to get loud.

On their forthcoming release, Low refuses to revert to their comfortable sound of old. Although the angelic voices remain, they’re greeted once again by seven different kinds of smoke. The first song, “Pretty People” is chalked full of droning guitars and pounding bass drum. The next two are a hailstorm of distorted voices, sharp strings, and handclaps, with Radiohead-like drum machines championing the department of percussion. These themes remain throughout, met along the way by squalling notes of electricity, moody bass on tracks about Marianne Faithful and Yoko Ono, and the closing chords of a super fuzzed church organ. Sparhawk’s lyrics and tone remain somber and skeptical, as if there’s simply no one to trust these days; and if his album is once again received by ill-tempered critics and belly-aching fans, then maybe he will be proven right.

I give the album an 8.6 out of 10 on Carl’s, less pretentious than Pitchfork and more dependable than Rolling Stone, scale of review.