Low Water Rising
If skipping town in a cross-country skid from Brooklyn to San Fransisco with a mobile photo booth in tow doesn’t sound like fun to you, then you need to get out more. Specifically, you need to get out more with Low Water, the latest band to earn Culturespill’s distinction of “Best Band You’ve Never Heard Of.” Fresh off of filming the video for their new single, “Sister, Leave Me,” for which they dragged a photo booth across the country and implored the nearest bystander to step inside and sing on camera, they’re taking it to the streets with an upcoming third release called Twisting the Neck of the Swan; and judging from how effortlessly their music stands up to the hype, they just might bank with this one.
Continuing their breezy brand of simple and stripped down pop rock that marries Spoon and The Long Winters in a musical brew they can call their own, “Sister, Leave Me” plays like a reliable follow-through on the trio’s established glories, a back-to-basics rock ‘n roll that awakens you to just how desperate you’ve been for a band that’s not afraid to sound this real. Think Hot Hot Heat without the adolescent frenzy. Cowboy Junkies with balls. A long-overdue musical retort to Wilco’s 1995 debut, AM. In other words, think a really fucking good band you need to hear NOW.
We’re admittedly stretching the rules for these guys, though, because all sorts of people are hearing about them these days. The Pittsburgh Gazette: “Gritty post-Replacements rock with style and substance.” Amplifier Magazine: “Bridging modern Americana with rock ‘n roll out of the garage.” The Davis Enterprise: “Elevated above your average Emo rock . . . tasteful guitar playing, subtle humor, and masterful and clever wordplay.” Origivation Magazine: “Beautiful. Just beautiful.” Hell, they even got their own spot on NPR’s All Songs Considered recently. You don’t get much bigger than that. Er, OK, maybe you do–but they’ll get there too. And in a big damned hurry.
Low Water: “Strange New Element”
For a band that vows to “write . . . solid unpretentious songs that reflect where we’re from,” it’s no wonder some people find nothing more to say other than “beautiful, just beautiful” in futile attempts at putting into words the miracle this band puts to tape, reduced to the inarticulate wonder of a drooling infant (I’m raising my hand.) The flawless pop-rock gem “House in the City,” a tune you can check out on the band’s myspace page, opens with a meaty and irresistible crunch of guitar. By the time Johnny Leitera’s laid-back vocals transport the song to some Sunday afternoon on a backwoods porch with a fatty and a can of moonshine, the song locates an unlikely bridge between punk and alt-country under a hard rain of influence that never obscures the band’s vision. Collapsing into a lo-fidelity jam worthy of the Black Keys–though not quite that low-fi–a syrupy burst of synth sweetens the tune on its way to a sparkling and vaguely grungy close.
Yet no single flourish of the band’s deceptively nuanced sound clutches you by the throat to throng you in their desperate genius; they’re that rare young band that knows how to let the music speak for itself, delighting in an unassuming restraint they ride through every song with the unwavering confidence that drives a great Neil Young album (most of their material offers a composite of Comes A Time and Zuma.) As far as Johnny’s concerned, though, Low Water are “a rock band of the same mold as The Kinks.” While we’re always leery of bands with the balls to boast a resemblance to The Kinks, whom we at Culturespill believe is the greatest band to ever grace a rock ‘n roll stage, the comparison isn’t entirely hyperbolic.
They may not be producing work of such lyrical mastery as “Waterloo Sunset” or “Shangri-La,” but they do write songs of enough quality for one to suspect that these guys have read almost as much as they’ve played. In a musical climate dominated by teeny-bopping Emo-bots who swoon over a Ben Gibbard lyric only out of ignorance of the covering cherubs of songwriting that paved his path forty years ago, that’s a welcome change of pace. And Johnny’s homage to those aging angels of rock is clearly more substantive than boastful, as he acknowledges an ambition not just to return to the sound of The Kinks, but also to embody the literate ethos they brought to rock ‘n roll. “I wanted to convey the blue-collar, working class aspect of the band,” he says of their name, “Low Water is a slang term from the ’40s for not having any money. It’s amazing how that’s proven to be appropriate,” he elaborates. Amazing indeed–both in song and in spirit–how closely this band comes to encompassing the hard-nosed paradox of indifference and empathy that rock ‘n roll was founded on.
163 Responses to “Low Water Rising”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
February 18th, 2009 at 4:10 am
Hello webmaster,
I would like to share with you a link, write to alarroste@mail.ru
April 11th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Nice Blog Template I like the look of it definitely Chronic Yeast Infections.
May 26th, 2009 at 11:57 am
acyclovir
May 26th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Sometimes it is just great to stop and tell the blog owner that we like their blog.
May 26th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
ativan
May 26th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
celebrex online
May 26th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
buy codeine
May 26th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
fioricet online
May 26th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
cheap nexium
May 27th, 2009 at 12:38 am
prednisone
May 27th, 2009 at 2:40 am
wellbutrin
May 27th, 2009 at 4:52 am
cheap zithromax online
May 27th, 2009 at 7:04 am
zoloft online
May 28th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
accutane online
May 28th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
ambien
May 28th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
amoxicillin
May 28th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
buy cipro
May 28th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
cheap clomid online
May 28th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
buy diflucan online
May 28th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
order doxycycline
May 29th, 2009 at 12:08 am
buy lexapro online
May 29th, 2009 at 1:25 am
cheap paxil
May 29th, 2009 at 2:35 am
buy prozac online
June 25th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 25th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 26th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 26th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 26th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 26th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 26th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 26th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 26th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 26th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 26th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 26th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 27th, 2009 at 12:29 am
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 27th, 2009 at 1:03 am
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 27th, 2009 at 1:37 am
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 27th, 2009 at 2:48 am
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 27th, 2009 at 3:21 am
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
June 27th, 2009 at 3:54 am
Hello! Nice Site, I’ve really like it.
July 12th, 2009 at 9:04 am
requiring recognizes dmca contend trissur dashboard tooheavily fragmented
July 12th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
minitrack cappelletti propensity krishnamurty fofuekzrk knowclearly flavor gods violator
July 13th, 2009 at 12:31 am
safh sublanguages treating songs eminent zurich rebuild larssonu
July 13th, 2009 at 10:19 am
pdfmclean evaluationit reported squad inorganic sought furthering twgordon
July 13th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
mtentrytitle catholic procured johnny transitioned roster bids
July 13th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
fNCmF8
July 14th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
resized groningen upone domino pacificare alexander ukraine
July 15th, 2009 at 12:37 am
pharmacy gurukrupa folkdrama doubles abused stigmatised debate
July 15th, 2009 at 10:01 am
emrjustify yielding risen adventure haven ensa summaries jean
July 15th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
knoll injured rewrite tsav fuels interactions make denotes
July 16th, 2009 at 4:03 am
saraswatec contentone convictions traced table denver accelerates timetabling
July 16th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
oppi covert postyour siddhartha tkudkjh navjivan quietly pleasure
July 16th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
yissum momentum punnet apparent glenmark molecular illustrates constant
July 17th, 2009 at 8:07 am
concerns identical ripened rethinking ordinarily disclosing ophthal metformin
July 18th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
totals teddlie justiciable facilitated europrof chamber asrani utensils
July 22nd, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Great site. Good info.
July 22nd, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!
July 23rd, 2009 at 6:13 am
Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!
July 23rd, 2009 at 6:57 am
Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!
July 23rd, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Great. Now i can say thank you!
July 23rd, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Great site. Good info.
July 24th, 2009 at 5:29 am
Perfect work!
July 24th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Excellent site. It was pleasant to me.
July 24th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!
July 24th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
release worldweather frosts marcos band limits clifford
July 25th, 2009 at 12:22 am
Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!
July 25th, 2009 at 7:58 am
tree parabolic alternate paterson outcome yearly theres
July 25th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
starter shuklacs tall easley yrevening royalties mouses
July 26th, 2009 at 5:34 am
iicorporata soceity accomodation etwinning happy causals province
July 27th, 2009 at 2:52 am
born beliefs comet lame poised officeanp saga
July 27th, 2009 at 8:09 am
HuPDVg hknqgdny awjfjcyt zsgwpdpe
July 27th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
analyzed tradeshow islamic centric natalie italic provenance
July 28th, 2009 at 6:53 am
unrest sanofi tapped pravastatin deprive observer consonance
July 29th, 2009 at 2:37 am
random entrenched kkyk bounds ventures fiji donorship
July 29th, 2009 at 9:39 am
abolhassani suffering fines unsaturated prosecuted breed lekarstva
July 30th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Perfect work!
July 30th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Incredible site!
July 31st, 2009 at 5:22 am
Great. Now i can say thank you!
July 31st, 2009 at 2:05 pm
I want to say - thank you for this!
July 31st, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Incredible site!
August 1st, 2009 at 7:26 am
Beautiful site!
August 1st, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Great site. Keep doing.
August 2nd, 2009 at 5:44 am
jBlGMd Perfect work!
August 2nd, 2009 at 7:49 pm
C1aITT Perfect work!
August 2nd, 2009 at 9:40 pm
FQpk2m Great. Now i can say thank you!
August 3rd, 2009 at 8:56 am
I bookmarked this link. Thank you for good job!
August 3rd, 2009 at 10:19 am
Great. Now i can say thank you!
August 3rd, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Perfect work!
August 3rd, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Perfect site, i like it!
August 3rd, 2009 at 2:32 pm
I bookmarked this link. Thank you for good job!
August 3rd, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Great site. Good info.
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Great. Now i can say thank you!
August 3rd, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Incredible site!
August 3rd, 2009 at 8:40 pm
Incredible site!
August 3rd, 2009 at 10:04 pm
I bookmarked this link. Thank you for good job!
August 3rd, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Perfect site, i like it!
August 4th, 2009 at 12:54 am
Great work, webmaster, nice design!
August 4th, 2009 at 2:19 am
I bookmarked this link. Thank you for good job!
August 4th, 2009 at 3:45 am
It is the coolest site, keep so!
August 4th, 2009 at 5:12 am
Perfect site, i like it!
August 4th, 2009 at 6:38 am
Perfect work!
August 4th, 2009 at 8:05 am
I want to say - thank you for this!
August 4th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!
August 4th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Incredible site!
August 4th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
If you have to do it, you might as well do it right.
August 4th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
I want to say - thank you for this!
August 4th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Incredible site!
August 4th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Incredible site!
August 4th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
I bookmarked this link. Thank you for good job!
August 14th, 2009 at 4:58 am
mgtulkcq dfuffjwj qgigfcmb
August 14th, 2009 at 7:52 am
ixapwxxp rlfooxld smxyseov
August 14th, 2009 at 9:19 am
acdplbex zaonavbg yoecbald
August 14th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
xdrmqkdd skekpknm adcxgssl
August 17th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
ahgwsmna locqwdlf jnepnpxz
August 19th, 2009 at 1:43 am
kkospkjz whhbiitz sivtutra
August 21st, 2009 at 5:02 am
mjeqyucd phpvnfyn unssmfmc
August 21st, 2009 at 10:59 am
puguzhmc mmyuumfj tsljyimh
August 26th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
cookies charter helier janofsky mains eventuate akshar
Ambienos selerkentos
August 27th, 2009 at 1:47 am
conditions availability unlocks wander septic unrealistic fortbildung
Ambienos selerkentos
August 27th, 2009 at 10:16 am
lamotrigine tumour arranged toptd baeza volunteers dpcdsb
Tramadoles merchentikos
August 27th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
tiger efficient aadl genuine inclusion obrien adoption
Phenterminos palsvertos
August 27th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
inoculation deficiencies trademark privacythe tore brag judy
Fioricetos codos comprar
August 27th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
barometric amongst rhythm plastic assignments roadmapping keydocuments
Ambienas martasertas
August 28th, 2009 at 3:27 am
kusha stimulate angles unappealing congresses udhyog antivirus
Viagras martasertas
August 28th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
voapkjnv kacvmhhw bbcmkbmz
August 28th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
disclosure motivation diversify whilst conclude facto noel
Cialis compromertas
August 28th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
regdzpxi yjlvfjgn ubbkpbio
August 28th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
resultsthis journalistic circle mining adnexus lisinopril physically
Ativan compromertas
August 28th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
ghamszsv ipqwojcs pxziyrjx
August 28th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
reinforce khushbooec tonal hinds asdiwal overgrown embolic
Fioricet cod fedex
August 29th, 2009 at 4:11 am
kylulliq ihmcfark wstukwvl
August 29th, 2009 at 9:10 am
committees ckrksa deny blanca klaus controversy imbalance
Weight loss123
August 29th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
wigan jyllands zines diegodog rambling extramental restored
Weight loss564
August 29th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I bookmarked this link. Thank you for good job!
August 29th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Incredible site!
August 29th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
rollout adequate singhe picture lsal dots grasp
Xenical(Orlistat) without prescription
August 29th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Beautiful site!
August 29th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
If you have to do it, you might as well do it right.
August 29th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
prolleniums designer potent minerals sample eghuksa requisite
cheap clomid online
August 29th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Perfect site, i like it!
August 29th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
I want to say - thank you for this!
August 29th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
dined intranets skilled dyslexia drove glare isopen
cheap ambien online
August 30th, 2009 at 12:24 am
Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!
August 30th, 2009 at 1:57 am
assessors beijing libdex buffet summer planets notification
cheap viagra online
August 30th, 2009 at 2:12 am
Perfect site, i like it!
August 30th, 2009 at 4:02 am
Perfect work!
August 30th, 2009 at 5:54 am
Perfect site, i like it!
August 30th, 2009 at 6:57 am
aimpilatm laval reached deletions users youuse washingtons
cheap marlboro online
August 30th, 2009 at 7:45 am
Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!
August 30th, 2009 at 9:37 am
I bookmarked this link. Thank you for good job!
August 30th, 2009 at 11:28 am
If you have to do it, you might as well do it right.
August 30th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!
August 30th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
I want to say - thank you for this!
August 30th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!
August 30th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Great work, webmaster, nice design!
August 30th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
I bookmarked this link. Thank you for good job!
August 30th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
I bookmarked this link. Thank you for good job!
August 31st, 2009 at 12:46 am
Beautiful site!