Stellar news! This town IS big enough for two noisy-angry Copenhagen bands on Matador Records. We are now introduced to Lower, and their album, Seek Warmer Climes. Contrasted with the hardcore punk influence of Iceage- a local contemporary- Lower brings a heavy early goth/post-punk feel. This is Lower’s first full-length, and fortunately for them, it’s on a pretty solid record label.
Lower’s sound leads me to believe that they performed a séance to channel post-punk band Bauhaus when they simply could have phoned the band since all of its members are still alive. From this, we got deep, introspective, free form post-punk glory but without the horrible gated snare drum sound that plagued so many bands from the 1980s. The drums, in fact, are quite lovely if I might add. Very tom heavy, but not in the cheesy tribal way that dime-a-dozen indie pop bands do it. The floor tom gets plenty of air time here. It feels like a heartbeat, purposefully faster than a human heartbeat, leaving you struggling to keep up. The bass guitar is reminiscent of a classic low end sound, a bass guitar with a humbucking neck pickup played with a pick near the bridge. This tried and true method gives a heavy, chunky bass tone that has no problem cutting through the mix. The guitar is as much a forefront instrument as the drums. But this isn’t a guitar-centered band whatsoever. The guitar is played harshly, but the tone is not. It comes off jangly, lightly distorted, with a hint of chorus shimmer. The guitarist plays a Jazzmaster, objectively the best guitar in existence (according to me). Vocals here are your typical European post-punk fare, where the vocalist sounds like he should be yelling at you, but isn’t. It fits in well with the music. It is dark, but hopeful, despite being pessimistic.
The cover art features a photograph of a fellow, clad completely in white, who appears to have just fallen in some red dirt, possibly on Tatooine. He wears a painful demeanor on his face, as if he were a young lad who had just dropped his ice cream. I believe it speaks well to the overall tone of the album. In an interview with Pitchfork, vocalist Adrian Toubro describes his influences from boredom in life, to famous poets and novelists. One of the songs describes his time spent in Africa, disillusioned, and almost kidnapped in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam.
I enjoy most of the songs on this album. It can drag a bit. Might be a lot to chew all at once for some. This isn’t the most accessible music in the world, but if you enjoy it then to hell with everyone else. The album clocks in a tad under 35 minutes. Any longer and it would have watered down the message. Check out “Soft Option”, a gem packed into the B-Side of the record and “Another Life”, the first song on the album.
Seek Warmer Climes is best enjoyed live and in person. Not that I would know, just seems like they’d be a damn fine live band. I just looked up their USA tour dates. They played in Philly a few months ago. Bollocks…
