DRUMS AND GUNS [CD]

'Drums and Guns' is darker than predecessor 'The Great Destroyer' (2005), the band since shedding a bassist, Alan Sparhawk appearing to have a breakdown (though was going on tour with Mark Kozelek really the best way to get over it?), while the current zeitgeist of war and terror appears overwhelming...

Last year saw the band performing 'Things We Lost in the Fire' in order at Don't Look Back, though the surrounding tour (in suppport of the 'Monkey' e.p.) saw the band play a set that was prmarily composed of material destined for Drums and Guns alongside much of The Great Destroyer (with a couple of tracks from 'Trust' and 'Things We Lost in the Fire' and nothing before it). The audience was quite raucous in Birmingham, Sparhawk appeared to reject the earlier tracks people were asking for and playing songs like 'Murderer' instead. I'm pretty sure that 'Dragonfly', 'Sandinsta' and 'Pretty People' were played that night...

'Drums and Guns' is quite different to 'The Great Destroyer', the latter was very guitar heavy, while this album appears to take its cue from the b-side version of 'I Remember' (see the box-set) which employed electronics and synths. The songs are generally brief and to the point, the grim album is just over 40 minutes, like some earlier Low material, I'm not sure how much more I could have taken...

'Pretty People' has similar feedback to David Sylvian's 'Blemish' as Sparhawk sings "All the soldiers...are all gonna die/All the little babies...are all gonna die/All the poets and all the liars and all you pretty people...are all gonna die." The missing link between the Blues and 'Metal Machine Music' is located as Mimi Parker offers a typically Velvets-style drumbeat. 'Belarus' is quite close to the electronic climes of Thom Yorke, perhaps the loss of Zak S. on bass lead the band to recording in a less conventional three piece way?

'Breaker' feels a bit like baader meinhof's 'Kill Ramirez', though with a minimal droning keyboard that recalls Suicide - strangely this very bleak material is quite catchy and poppy. These songs won't stop drifting around your head once heard - "...the blood just spills and spills/and here we sit debating Math...It's just the shame/My hand just kills and kills/There's got to be an end to that..." again typifies the dark feel. Maybe too much war on TV. The Neo-Con disease and the US at its lowest point since Nixon, maybe even worse off, though seemingly oblivious. "There's got to be an end to that..." - these songs could keep you up all night...

The rest of the album is as great, from the minimal piece 'Your Poison', to the blend of typical Low minimalism and a kind of trip-hop/industrial beat on 'Dragonfly', and my favourite, the brief and beautiful 'Sandinista.' This song holds its own with any of the revered Low material of yore - the allusion to the Sandnistas in Central America one that points to US foreign policy of the past, and similarly to now. Alan and Mimi's harmony vocals sound wonderful here, "Oh Sandinista...Oh Sandinista...Oh Sandinista take my side..." Then there's 'Always Fade', which sounds like a cross between hip-hop, Low and The Sisters of Mercy; and then the darkest closing tracks 'Murderer' and 'Violent Past.' The long day's journey into night...

'Drums and Guns' lyrically is everything the new Arcade Fire album isn't. I guess the emphasis on the state of things and a husband/wife element to the band shows some similarities, but where Win Butler and co come across as a slightly pious Waterboys/Grant Lee Buffalo preaching to the converted, Low here seem to have doubt. 'Drums and Guns' reflects this dark era, taking Low into unexpected sonic climes and a definite highlight of 2007. This is one album that I can't stop playing, despite "the screams/the clutching of breaths..." A dark wonder from Low...

Okay, I was a huge fan of Low turning up the tempo and rockin' out a bit on their last album, "The Great Destroyer", but these guys (and gal) have done so much better on their latest effort, which slows things down again. Ironically, this album needs to be turned on high volume more than the last one, because its haunting, modest background effects create a mood that won't be topped by any band this year. Alan Sparhawk's vocals, which are in top form, are complemented beautifully by a wide range of electronic noises ranging from eerie electric guitar to organ chords to electronic clapping. And, unlike most albums that come out these days, the record has a continuous feel to it... when done listening, it's harder to point a finger at a single track than it is the whole listening experience. However, if one is to highlight a song that stands out, it might very well be the final track, "Violent Past", which isn't a climax to "Drums and Guns" as much as it is a song that leaves me wanting to go back and examine the past 45 minutes.

And for those "Great Destroyer" fans who are wanting some sort of rock song on this record, the only satisfaction you'll get in this department is a quiet, goregous guitar riff on "Hatchet", a song that uses the inter-band relationships of the Beatles and Rolling Stones as a metaphor for a personal relationship.

Low's career spans about 15 years to date but they remain one of America's most consistently interesting and engaging `underground' rock groups. This feat is achieved in no small part due to their willingness and ability to vary their style and approach whilst remaining faithful to their overall musical vision.

`Drums and Guns' is no exception: significantly different from its predecessor `The Great Destroyer' (which was in itself a marked change from `Trust'); you will find no loud, brash guitar work here.

The mood of the album is resolutely downbeat, the songs are mostly dark and moody and the band use a greater degree of drum programming than ever before; sparse, scratchy beats underpin the organ-driven`Breaker', the heavy bass of `Always Fade' and underly Mimi's clear vocals on `Belarus'.

Distorted guitars and a semi-industrial beat mark `Dragonfly's' lament to drug addiction, whilst the magnificent closing track, `Violent Past', stuns with great slabs of layered distorted guitar noise, powerful yet melodic at the same time.

Lyrically, the record is exceptionally mature. There is anger and pain in the songs but Low are careful to avoid didacticism. `Blood spills and spills/but here we sit debating math' (Breaker) and `where would you go if the gun fell in your hand? (Sandinista) are two good examples.

It is an exaggeration to say that `Drums and Guns' is Low's best album; I am not convinced that there is a stone-cold classic track here (with the possible exception of `Violent Past'), but viewed as a whole it is a dense, challenging and extremely intelligent record which cements Low's status as one of the most vital bands in the world today.