Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Low to play Primavera

Now this was initially great news but the enthusiasm was dampened somewhat to discover that their set will consist of a 'Don't Look Back' style retread of 'The Great Destroyer'. If you could have chosen one Low album that you would rather they'd wash their hands of completely, it's probably this one. If only Alan Sparhawk had formed Retribution Gospel Choir prior to 'The Great Destroyer', there's every chance Low could have taken the stage in Barcelona trying to piece together the brittle 'Secret Name' or 'Things We Lost in the Fire' - their finest record to date.
For a band who had seamlessly mined the same Galaxie 500 sound and made it their own, 'Destroyer' was genuinely their first misstep as a band, so strange it is that they choose to exhume their noisiest, least effective and least affecting record to date. It does contain 'Death of a Salesman' however which in turn features a video containing possibly the most random act of violence ever.

2 comments:

  1. I like the choice. It's not my favourite Low album, but I prefer it to Things We Lost... and Drums & Guns. any pre-2000 Low would be my first choice, but for an outdoor festival in the sun with people drinking and people on holiday, The Great Destroyer is a good choice.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm not sure Low are even a festival band. Give me 'Two-Step' in some random European cathedral ahead of 'Monkey' by the beach.

    ReplyDelete