Lowry - Love Is Dead Review
Posted by Scott Rutherford on 11.01.2008
Something about a deceased taxi for a hot chick a think.
This is the debut album for Brooklyn natives Lowry. Reading their bio they name drop Death Cab for Cutie and Nada Surf as main touch points for their sound and style and claim to make “musical short stories” that work as a whole and not so much function as individual songs. Their label boss says…
I was drawn to this album because it plays like a rich and complex piece of art, literary almost in its impact and emotional vividness…I was struck by the joyous feel the album possesses for dealing with such a heavy subject”
Groan.
Having read a million band biographies in my time there’s nothing worse than seeing this type of stuff because you usually get music as crap as the bio is pompous. I mean, a bio is never going to pimp that music is shit and being anything less than world altering and when promo material really lays it thick…I get worried.
Seriously, I’m a little over bands dropping Death Cab these days because that band is so singularly great and has impressed me in ways that other bands just can’t do. It’s almost like if you borrow their name for a moment a little of their class will rub off. For me, a band has to work to overcome my negative connection.
So looking at this album I have to say I very much agree with the album artwork. A little to Tim Burton maybe (and admitted as so in the bio) but it does establish a feel and tone before you play any music. I also note that we have a male lead/female background vocal dynamic which is a pleasant surprise. It’s an underused element in music and hopefully it helps this album rise above the pack.
Another thing I noted before playing this album is that it only has nine tracks, which is bold in this day and age. Also, We have a wide variety of song times ranging from just over 3 minutes right up too a breath under 8 minutes. This actually gives me some sort of hope because there’s nothing worse than picking up a review album with 15 songs all around three minutes long because you usually get a glut of same type of song.
Now you can color me curious.
Track Listing: Lowry – Love Is Dead
1. Whiskey
2. You Die Alone
3. Face Behind Your Hands
4. Wicked Witch Of Brunswick
5. Roads
6. Zipped Up The Lost Coat
7. Down
8. One Thing
9. The Road You Left On
From the opener "Whiskey" the Death Cab reference is blindingly obvious. I could play both sides and say either “thank god that at least they sounds like Cutie” or “fuck they sound a lot like Cutie”. I’m actually going to play the fence sitter on this one. Lowry wear the influence well and I believe they managed to cram all musical highlights from Cuties Plans album all within the first three minutes. Pretty impressive. However the best part of this song comes at 3:26 in as they break into a beautiful languid beat with a slide guitar refrain and piano chords underneath adding a superb lush feel. This sounds like Lowry and it pulls the songs up from being a cheap knock-off.
This encapsulates Lowry as a musical entity. Most of their songs wear their musical influences on its sleeve but when the band stretch beyond that original musical idea and look at adding a new feel or flourish to a song they usually hit upon something good an interesting.
Probably the best example of hearing the band as itself and not a sum of its influence is on the first single "Face Behind Your Hands", as the feel of the song is unlike anything else on the album. The guitars, vocals and arrangement all play off each other creating the songs own internal logic, thus making something more original.
Another good example would be "Roads" which has a nice Kinks-like feel and invokes some serious 60’s vibes and then brought into today’s music scene via the vocal blend and the stylistic shift created when the drums come in around the 3 minute mark and the funky guitar riff that come to the fore. Add the very tasteful guitar solo at the end and you have an all round winner.
Perhaps my favorite track is "One Thing". Funnily enough this probably is one of the more heavy Death Cab sounding songs but that can’t take away that the song is really good. The instrumentation is fantastic and as is the standard for this whole set, the band play for the song and not for glory.
Opinions
As I’ve noted musically, Lowry have trouble escaping their influences. However, this isn’t some ham-fisted attempt at copying someone else. There is real talent in the songwriting and is the case with all young bands, give them a year on the road playing 5 nights a week will flush out the Death Cab over tones. Hopefully this is the start of something bigger and better and as they expand their sonic palette we’ll see the real musical face of this band. But for now this album is a solid start if weighed down by a lack of originality in the sound department.
The 411: If your into the chamber pop of Death Cab for Cutie and don’t mind the sound-a-like aspect of Love Is Dead, you will find a lot to like. Even for those like me that find it hard to dismiss this, there is enough to enjoy about Lowry that you can find to keep you interested. I recommend at least one listen and decide for yourself.
