Caught in the Crossfire

Lower
Seek warmer Climes
Matador Records

Lower are a post punk band from Copenhagen. That one sentence is enough for people to liken them to Iceage immediately (admittedly also a post punk band from Copenhagen). That’s not to say being compared to Iceage is a bad thing, their past two records have been impressive enough, however one must wonder what its like to constantly be compared to the same band in every press release, in every gig poster and of course, in an album review. With that said, they have released a split record (and even a split t-shirt?!) with Iceage, so perhaps this comparison has helped.

When I first heard about Lower, they were playing a show at the Old Blue Last, stuck in between the glorious Chain of Flowers and the risible Cerebral Ballzy. This was a worry for me as I wasn’t sure if Lower would deliver the same sort of punk as the headliners, “Vice Punk” if you will, or whether they would make a genuine attempt to create something new or of interest. Luckily it was the latter, their Walk on Heads debut and ‘Someone’s Got it in For Me’ single were two excellent post punk records that took as much influence from hardcore as they did new wave.

Onto Seek Warmer Climes, this is their first LP, released on Matador Records, home to innovative hardcore bands Ceremony and Fucked Up, as well as alternative music legends such as Pavement and Thurston Moore. Their label mates offer good comparison to Iceage, Lower could easily bill on shows with any of these bands (I know they supported Fucked Up just one month before the writing of this review).

Opener ‘Another Life’ kicks off with a drumbeat that continues throughout and sets the pace of the entire record. Its fast. Vocally, Adrian Toubro has an interesting approach, those used to the shouting style of the first two records may be surprised. He is far more restrained this time around, sometimes croony, sometimes drony, its something that isn’t heard too often and is a credit to the record.

Not only is Toubro’s vocal delivery stronger, lyrically this is the best Lower have been. ‘Lost Weight, Perfect Skin’ covers dealing with anorexia and depression making for a jarring listen. The seven minute long, ‘Expanding Horizons (Dar es Salaam)’ covers the time in his life spent traveling across Africa and experiencing his views challenged by religion, not the typical lyrical content of a post punk record. ‘Expanding Horizons (Dar es Salaam)’ also sees the band stepping out of their comfort zone, with a cello accompanying the buzzing guitars, this is something that works very well and I’d love to see them continue to experiment in future releases.

To sum the record up, I really like it. When a band with a punk influence announce they’re doing a full length, one can get a little apprehensive, so often a six track EP is the optimum way to listen to this kind of music, but Lower manage to go against this stereotype with songs such as ‘Bastard Tactics’, and personal favourite, ‘Daft Persuasion’ going far beyond what they’ve previously created. I truly recommend you to listen to Seek Warmer Climes, it may even be better than the last Iceage record.

Tim Lewis