Lower – Walk On Heads 7” EP (Escho)
As the core readership of Still Single gets younger and younger, I struggle with the kneejerk criticism that I was able to float seven years ago, like the kind of review that says “this is a blatant knock on [insert band name here] and what makes this so goddamned special anyway.” We are far enough away from the times in which I grew up – and further still from the years which I missed, and so desperately tried to catch up on, when I made the decision to entrench myself in the music that led up to what is the basis of my critical node. It seems even more disingenuous to single out people who likely weren’t yet born into the times when the music that seems to inspire their own bands was originally released. Lower is a newer Copenhagen outfit staffed with young youth who are buds with Iceage. I met one of them last summer and he definitely seemed to be in the under-21 age group. But where Iceage was preternaturally able to inject the punk/post-punk of their debut New Brigade with the sort of vitality that made it sound like they had created the genre anew, Lower is content to farm in a fallow field. I wouldn’t compare them to Fields Lay Fallow (ha!), more like mks. 1 & 2 emo, particularly of mid-to-late ‘80s Mid-Atlantic descent – Moss Icon, Reptile House, Soul Side, all good enough places to start. They don’t lean on the “epic” sides those bands could sometimes generate either, more like the two-minute punkers with bass chords and unpoliced energy that filled in the gaps between the bigger moments. Opener “Craver” is the best thing here and the rest just kinda hangs out, definitely fun and maybe even revelatory if you didn’t spend years in the ‘90s sorting through distro catalogs or merch boxes at shows past every Plunger or William Martyr 17 record that remained unsold show after show. I’m sure such references would earn me little more than a “Cool Story, Bro” from any number of random little shits. What fails to be taken away from that argument is the basis that history is here on display for us to repeat. When we as a culture, irrespective of age, fail to learn the lessons we’ve been provided with, we wind up stuck with retreads of dormant culture, which is exactly what’s happening here. If Lower’s music makes you feel something, that’s cool. But their messages are handed down and vague, and the soil they want to dig into is desiccated and choked with weeds left untended from the last harvest. At least with Iceage no one can seem to agree on which bands they take influence from, whereas there are at least two dozen records of years past that bear more than a passing resemblance to the music here. Perhaps on future releases they will find a way to break out of the pack and quell this dismissive spirit growing within their ranks. Or maybe they won’t, because that’s a tall order for young dudes. 300 copies, 1st press green sleeve, 2nd press brown sleeve; domestic edition coming eventually on Blind Prophet. (http://www.escho.dk)
(Doug Mosurock)
