Tips
Let me preface this with an admission: I don't know what to make of A Hundred Miles Off. It's like a drunk, by turns funny and gripping, and sometimes no more than an abrasive mess. It's to my delight, then that in Low Lustre's "Dancing Blind" I can hear the best parts of the pre-Hundred Miles Walkmen: "The Rat"'s straight-line drive, Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone's atmosphere and soar, and a haunted, broken organ. They pull it off brilliantly, too, displaying the effort required to hold such a music together. It's not fair to hold this band, or song, up to such exacting standards, but I say this because they reach them, and I'm impressed.
This song fits in with an alterna-rock resurgence I've been sensing lately (I believe I mentioned the muscular JagJag bands before), and which I enjoy millions of times more than the original mid-'90s onslaught. It's the music's uncomplicated pull, visceral and unmistakably rock, and the pretty/ugly that I'm drawn to, and "Under City Lights"'s glorious mid-tempo strain exemplifies this.
Visit Low Lustre online, and buy their EP here (six bucks, just do it).
***
McSweeney's recommends that you pull out an old album, and listen to it straight through. And so do I.
I love Dirk!
by brian at 6/05/2006 11:03:00 AM
2 Comments:
Totally agree about the new Walkmen material, Tenley Town is still brilliant though. And in fairness, how could they really follow their last, probably career defining moment? Good find in Low Lustre also...
I love, love, love dancing blind by low lustre. I can't wait to see them when they come play in nyc.
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