It`s a highly boring tale of work, taxis and press passes, but basically I was late for tonight`s Low gig. Late enough to miss a full half hour of their set in fact. Mea culpa, I blow. Apparently there was a fight in the audience early on, presumably during a foot-stamping happy hardcore number. Oh wait, this is a Low gig`.
In one respect, and without being flippant, it doesn`t actually matter that I was late. Low share a common trait with bands like Mogwai, namely: they`ve spent a lengthy career rewriting what is essentially the same song, and somehow still manage to be great. New albums are oftened heralded as being a departure for various reasons ` a new lineup, the incorporation of `electronic elements` ` but tonight`s show illustrates how overstated these evolutions often are. Done with just bass, one guitar and half a drumkit, along with husband and wife Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker`s aching vocal duets, its apparent that the newer material from this year`s `Drums and Guns` album could`ve sneaked onto anything from 1995`s `Long Division` onwards.
Musically, Low have been writing from the same small Scrabble hand since the start: around six chords and two drum beats which are combined endlessly in ways that never leave you feeling they`re repeating themselves or getting stale. The lyrics are usually the really distinguishing part. New song `Murderer` is as ominous as anything they`re ever done:
One more thing I’ll ask you, lord
You may need a murderer
Someone to do your dirty work
Don’t act so innocent`
I`ve read your books.
Sparhawk and Parker`s delivery is always added weight by the sparsity of musical backing; the relentless minimalism and restraint that earned them the `slowcore` tag they reportedly loathe. The sound is great precisely because there`s hardly any of it, and because Low play their instruments so delicately, they can be turned way up. This means all the parts can really breathe and float around the venue, rather than fighting with each other for space.
Despite calls for songs like `Monkey` which are more Rock! (well, relatively), the band stick to the mainstays of their catalogue tonight, the impossibly intimate torch songs and wise observations on the world which are really their essence. They finish with `Two Step` from 1999`s `Secret Name.`
`Low` is the perfect name for this band by the way. Not because they somehow sound low, or bring you down, or because they`re small. I think it`s because of the feel of the name when you say it, like Humbert Humbert saying `Lo-leee-ta` and rolling the word around his mouth. Low. Low. Lllllllowww.