Low The Great Destroyer. Release Date : January 25, 2005. Label: Sub Pop. Rating: Andy doesn't dig rating stuff. There's so much rumbling I can barely hear straight what's going on but within the first 20 seconds I'm almost reduced to tears. It's so ominous and sorrowful sounding. It really is low. The music gets across perfectly this feeling it's trying to evoke. Male and female vocals together blend and pour across a rolling bass and thumping drums. Tonight you will be mine / tonight the monkey dies. 'Monkey' is just a comical sounding word. Unfortunate when paired with this song, but it still kind of brings to mind the Pixies. The second track, "California" is immediately upbeat though, at least by comparison. This sounds a lot like the John Frusciante disc I just listened to. It's alot like the Frusciante. Tons of droning noises and aggravated vocals. "Silver Rider" is drifting along a canal in a boat, twilight, beautiful, hand skimming the water. Man this is gorgeous... there's background sounds like fire, but it's peaceful. The male-female vocal combo is so gloriously melodic, I mean, it's like nature. It's absolutely stunning. I think they do vastly better with the beautiful/depressing/stunning songs. The quicker, peppier sounding folky tunes in between are a little snippy and... not boring - they're still better than most in the genre - but they do So well at the downtrodden, twisted songs, it just feels like they should keep contributing such tunes. However this is not a one-dimensional band by any means. Even on the uppity tunes, there's well-applied effects and riffs that make the songs punch out a bit. But I definitely prefer the low low songs. "On The Edge Of" is like a dangerous old west movie from the 60's. Chunky sounds, tambourines. The words are luscious and ripe. It's lovely and falls into a slow ooooooh section near the... end? Will it come back??? It slowly starts up... another voice, cymbals, a guitar... and fades out. There's child's voice singing backup in "Step" - a little eerie, but pretty cool. "When I Go Deaf" begins as a sweet, sombre country ballad but then roars up into a feedback-laden mess of noise. "Broadway (So Many People)" pulls back and forth from jumpy to lulling. Indeed, where is the laughter? Dark cello thrum in "Pissing" - I may be a bit frightened. Everything builds and grows this branching intensity. After all this whining, jangling, metalshop clanging, it ends with a brick wall stop. And then rolls into a slow folk tune. A pile of surprises - Low is extraordinary. Song of choice : Hard to choose, but let's stick with that impactful opener "Monkey." -Andy Scheffler Elsewhere Low website Published : March, 2005.