HEY WHAT - Low: Review

Low

is most well known for their legendary run of slowcore releases in the 90's. But have since filled out their catalog with numerous other sound of indie and experimental rock music. The band shifted their releases to Sub Pop in the mid 2000's but didn't find a massive success on the label until 2018's Double Negative which became a massive critical success. 

Review By Lav:

Imagine if Slowcore one day experiences the online renaissance and retroactive appreciation that shoegaze has gotten in 2021, that's the world I want to live in. Bands like Low and their contemporaries in Duster, Songs: Ohia, and yes even Red House Painters (despite the actions of Mark Kozelek) all deserve to have their brilliant work recognized. I think Double Negative inspired a lot of people to give Low's back catalog a chance and I was pretty excited for their follow-up given that a lot more people were likely to hear it. Despite that reality the band is refusing to compromise their sound. in fact this is one of the most sonically brash albums I've heard this year almost up there with The Body's new record. Thankfully the band delivers these tracks with enough poise to gather these sounds into really compelling songs and the results are thoroughly enjoyable. 

I had plenty of reason to anticipate enjoying this album just off the strength of its three singles alone. Lead single Days Like These impressed me at first and I've only fallen more and more in love with it since. The absolute wall of distortion that rushes into the track on the hook absolutely rattles my skull every single time, and I mean that in a good way. It's contrasted brilliantly with the long stark passages in between with the somber gentle piano. It's one of the most sonically compelling singles I've heard all year and is only the tip of the iceberg for the album. Next up was Disappearing which features rough textured guitar that just drags through the song from start to finish. The refrains have grown on me a lot and proved to be pretty memorable despite the amount of space they're given to breathe in between. I didn't love how abruptly the track ended but it's certainly a decision that makes more sense within the context of the record. Finally there was More which is impressively maximal right out of the gate. For a track that is barely over two minutes it doesn't waste a second with an absolutely earth shattering riff and some of the best refrains on the entire album. 

The singles are no fluke either, there are some absolutely killer songs in the tracklist. The opener White Horse is an uncompromising introduction to the album with a glitchy electric guitar riff, or at least you could call it a riff it sounds more like distortion that is abruptly chopped off at the end to form a driving core of the instrumental. The vocals soar over the backing track with balladic group singing and while the actual refrains of the track only last for a few minutes of its runtime they are incredibly memorable. Hey is the records centerpiece and it gets off to a really great start with a distant pulsating instrumental and some of the most beautiful refrains on the entire album. Around the middle of the song it starts to dial back even further and drift into a nearly ambient track with some subtle interpolations of vocals here and there that really add to the scenery. It's a wonderful moment of sonic relief and bliss right at the core of the album. The closing track The Price You Pay is the other 7 minute experience and it's confrontational both lyrically and instrumentally. It isn't the loudest moment on the record, obviously, but the background is just buzzing with heavy fuzz like a Nine Inch Nails song and the percussion is absolutely slamming as it goes on. The build is amazing as the song just continues to get darker, murkier and glitchier as it goes on making for a fantastic finale. 

I Can Wait is a bit on the more instrumentally reserved side but that does mean that what's going on instrumentally isn't interesting. The track has a bit of a brighter tone to it which makes for some really cool moments when both the brighter and grittier instrumental hazes combine. This is by far the most interesting part of the song and I do think it goes out on a bit of a whisper but overall I like what the song delivers. All Night opens up with some dream pop refrains and the way the guitars whiff in and out of the mix fits right in with the sound. I love the distant pulsating fuzz that runs throughout the chorus and the beautiful bridge that follows it. The song is one of the more compositionally abstract of the bunch but the sound play keeps it at least intriguing throughout. 

I don't really have much to say about the records shortest song There's A Comma After Still as it feels far less sonically adventurous than everything else here. The only song on the record I don't really care for is Don't Walk Away. Despite an instrumental that feels quite expansive, it doesn't really do much with that space especially while the vocal refrains are going on. The abstract whispers are cool sounding but they are placed over a pretty undefined musical space. 

I know I spent a lot of time talking about the instrumentals here but that's because they really are that special. When the vocals do emerge on the album they are normally pretty good especially when the layered group vocals hit some of their most dramatic highs. The true appeal to HEY WHAT is in its willingness to break convention with erupting sonic landscapes and raw, heavy production. If that sounds like your cup of tea there's a good chance HEY WHAT will be one of your favorite albums of the year and it's no doubt one of the best experimental rock albums of the year. 8/10

Album Cover Review by Tyler Judson:

This cover is simple and looks okay even though it has a lack of subject or noticeable concept. I wish that inside the lines there was some kind of hidden branding design that would've have pushed it over the edge and made it recognizable for people who look at it with no prior idea that it has anything to do with the music. 4/10

For more experimental rock check out my review of Deafheaven's Infinite Granite here