Hush, hush

Low doesn't have to shout

Chris Jordan, Central New Jersey Home Tribune. July 21, 1995

It's about time, with all the clang and clutter of today's punk/post-grunge bands trying to out noise each other, that a group like Low should come along.

Low, a threesome from Duluth, Minn., plays sparse, slow, somnolent tunes using a guitar, bass and minimal percussion setup. Whereas most of today's music features a distorted power chord and a blood-curdling scream into the microphone, Low seeks the listener's attention by playing as quietly and softly as possible.

"We're not the first band to play slow or minimal music," said Low's vocalist/guitarist Alan Sparhawk from his and his wife's (Low's vocalist/percussionist, Mimi Parker) Duluth home. Low has been compared to Galaxie 500 and the Cowboy Junkies' "Trinity Session" album. "But we're definitely trying to do something different than what's going on."

Tonight, Low hits (make that gently glances) the Mercury Lounge in New York as part of the Macintosh New Music Seminar.

"When we started we thought we'd put out a 7-inch (single) and play locally," said Sparhawk of Low's beginings. "But one of the people that heard it was (North Jersey indie producer) Kramer. He invited us out to record and seemed pretty enthusiastic about what we were doing."

Kramer has produced, among others, the aforementioned Galaxie 500 and New Brunswick's own Rotator Cuff.

"He passed the tape out to a Vernon Yard A&R (artist and repertoire) representative and she was really into it," Sparhawk said. "It was like, right away, 'Ohh, someone wants to put out our record?'"

Low has been together for two years (bassist Zak Sally is the most recent addition) and released two records in that time: 1994's "I Could Live In Hope" and the current "Long Division." If they hit big nationally, they'll follow the footsteps of fellow musical Minnesotans such as Prince, The Replacements and the lesser-known Trashmen, who were responsible for the 1960s hit, "Surfin' Bird."

"The Trashmen were from Minnesota,' Sparhawk said. "It's odd that they played surf music, when there's no beaches where one would surf for 1,000 miles maybe people just don't have anything to do in the cold."

After listening to the 12 songs that comprise the sedate, soporific "Long Division," one wonders if the music is reflective of the musicians' personalities.

"I can be pretty manic and a little too talkative," Sparhawk said. "We're pretty normal, boring people. We don't sit around and contemplate things too much.

"We're into simplicity, certainly. But we're not as quiet and sedate as I wish we were."