Low Lows, The – “Shining Violence ” – [Misra Records]

Thurston Hunger   9/23/2008   A Library, CD

I got to say, there is a lot of goop on this album. The voice, the guitar
are often dripping with effect-laden, post-processola goop. Casting that
aside (or stretching it out of the way) Parker Noon’s voice remains a
trembling force, strength in frailty. The black eye from the last album’s
artwork has healed, but the hurt is buried a lot of deeper. Not just
filed next to Low, the Low Lows relish the contrast of a memorable
melody sugar often juxtaposed against some sour lyrical pain that is hard to
forget. Brass tactics do a nice job of polishing up the pride, and
I should say that some of the guitar ooze from Daniel Rickard is of
a more resonant resin. Sticks to the roof of your eardrums at times,
he also likes to get the feedback just on the edge of whinnying. More
sustained pain perhaps? Noon’s vocals often do the Rock 101 manuevuers
to prolong syllables, he’s a solid garbled warbler in my book. Fire
consumes here, moths and flames, and even the last album’s title shows
up in the words to “Tigers.” “Disappearer” and “It May Be Low” (the
latter with some thick ol’ bullfrog harmonies at the bottom of the
lake) were nice. Low Low’s love to overdose on crescendoes, see the
fuzzmuckers “Elizabeth Pier” and “Sparrows” as examples. I bet the
demos of these tracks cut closer to the bone. Still those car-wrecked
vox are hard to turn away from, darkness at Noon.

-Thurston Hunger