Band of the North Low
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Low is Steve Garrington, ➣ Alan Sparhawk, and Mimi Parker BAND OF THE NORTH Low “Everything always confusion, things I could never explain,” sings Alan Sparhawk on Low’s new album Ones and Sixes, out in September on Sub Pop Records. It’s a fitting sentiment from a band that makes difficult, achingly beautiful pocket symphonies about flailing in the dark and never quite finding your way. Formed in Duluth in 1993, Low is the shared vision of Sparhawk and his wife, Mimi Parker (original member John Nichols was long ago replaced by a revolving door of bassists). Critics initially labeled the trio “slowcore” for the minor-key leanings and dripping-sap tempos of early works I Could Live in Hope and Long Division. But to say Low plays slow and sad is like describing sushi as raw fish. The more closely you lis- ten—and do listen closely, as Low is the state champ of headphone records—the more elusive its alchemy becomes. You could say Parker is a spare and skillful drummer. Or that Sparhawk’s guitar playing seesaws between distortive roars and melodies so pure they’ll bruise your heart. You might also note that despite its many creative pivots, Low remains anchored by Sparhawk and Parker’s intimate harmonies, which reveal more about love and modern life in song than a Jonathan Franzen novel could ever hope to. Discuss Low’s tendency to blend but never bend to influences as varied as rock, folk, gospel, and electronic music. Argue that it’s the only prestige band from Minnesota that’s underrated at home and properly rated everywhere else (its fans include B Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, who invited the E S group on tour in 2003, and Robert Plant, T who once recorded a cover of Low’s “Silver L Rider”). Ask questions: How does Sparhawk I S and Parker’s Mormon faith inform their T secular art? Is it better to speak about Low I in abstract terms—as a candle in a cold, dark N D room or, occasionally, a squall ripping across E that inland sea by its hometown? Say what X you will, analyze all you want, but in the end P • Low is a mystery best left unsolved. Things 8 I could never explain indeed. 6 mspmag.com | MPLS.ST.PAUL | DECEMBER 2015 85.