The Low Anthem – What The Crow Brings Review
Posted by Jes Tones on 10.05.2007
Contemporary folk/rock duo The Low Anthem return with their sophomore LP a year after turning heads along the East Coast with their debut album and stunning live performances.
A friend once told me his traumatic story as a first year associate at a major New York City law firm: overwhelmed with work, when he told a partner he may not have time to complete an assigned task, in a fit, said partner threw a stack of papers in the young associate’s face and screamed for him to get out. Naively believing his career to be over when it had just begun, he told me he “did what he always does when he feels that bad – went home and laid in bed listening to slow country music.” This was my cue. The next day I handed him a copy of The Low Anthem’s 2006 self-titled LP as ammo for the next time such a situation should arise. We had an immediate fan.
Now it’s 2007 and this twosome, comprised of Ben Miller and Jeff Prystowsky, has grown considerably. They’ve grown in rhythm, depth, sound, and they’ve grown on me. In just one spin of this album I was provoked to sing, hum, and tap along in a way that I simply did not find on last year’s self-titled release – last year they had potential, this year they have panache.
What The Crow Brings gives the impression that each phrase, beat and stroke is precise and intentional, as is the name of the band itself, based on the description found on TLA’s website, which also provides a useful depiction of the sound radiating from this beautifully crafted album:
"Anthem:
-A song of praise or joy
-Sings of community
-Memorable, hopeful, uplifting
-A shared song, for and of people
-Sings of cause and creed”
"Low:
-Must be listened for to be heard
-Does not impose itself on you by volume, force
-Of a resonant human sadness
-Opposing itself to the bombastic, triumphant, arrogant, self-celebratory inescapable national anthem
-And yet offering no less community”
"The:
Probably the wrong article (“a” would work better since there are many low anthems).”
In measured, affecting, true American folk storytelling fashion Miller and Prystowsky lure the listener in with melodies supported by the likes of a pump-organ, tongue drum, tube harp, marimba, toy-piano, stand up bass, guitar, harmonica, trumpet and more. The album casts off with the folk stunner “The Ballad of the Broken Bones,” then stretches its rock muscles with “Yellowed By The Sun,” before reeling the listener back in with a succession of folk/country ballads including “As The Flame Burns Down,” “Bless Your Tombstone Heart,” the aching “This God Damn House” and the melancholy true folk tune “A Weary Horse Can Hide The Pain.” Other memorable moments include an intimate cover of the Carter family’s 1928 hit “Keep On The Sunny Side,” the enchanting story of “Senorita” with the devil in her eyes, and the album closer “Coal Mountain Lullaby.”
Packaged in recycled cereal boxes in true DIY fashion, the sound enclosed reeks of typewriters, dusty dirt roads, artful exploration and a mindful appreciation of predecessors studied and adored. Think: Tom Waits, Neil Young, Wilco.
The official release of the first 500 numbered copies is October 2, 2007, with record release parties in New York at the Cutting Room on that date and in Providence at AS220 on October 6—both shows promise a copy of the album with the price of admission. If you can’t make these East Coast outings, help yourself to a plate of TLA’s tunes streaming on the band’s website and pick it up on ITUNES or CDBABY — the next time you need to recover from the shriek of a tyrant, the ache of a broken heart, or simply an endless day, you’ll thank me.
The 411: What The Crow Brings is a deliberate, melodic, captivating follow up album to TLA’s 2006 self-titled release. Any question regarding the sustainability of this duo left in my mind from last year was quickly dispelled with a few rotations of this disc. The band has taken its time writing, self-producing and even hand silk-screening the first 500 copies of this disc and such attention and dedication have certainly paid off on this release.
