Lower Dens
Brains
Ribbon Music / Domino / Playground

Baltimore, Maryland four-piece Lower Dens will in a couple of months put out their second album, Nootropics (pronounced No-eh-tro-pics), due to be out April 30th (in the UK and Europe) and May 1st (North America). "Brains" is a taster of what to come, and it tastes good. It's got brains.

Lower Dens, who released their debut album, Twin-Hand Movement (on Devendra Banhart and Vetiver's Andy Cabic's label Gnomonsong) in 2010, is run by Texas-born singer/songwriter Jana Hunter, as one of many other side projects. The other players are guitarist Will Adams, bassist Geoff Graham, and drummer Abram Sanders. "Brains" is a slowly growing song, built around a staccato, repetitive rhythm, of the metronomic kind. It's driven by the quick going, simple guitar chord/riff, a tense snare and hi-hat, a steady, bumbling bass, and Hunter's dark, dramatic voice. Imagine Stereolab matched with Bedhead, speeding up like the Feelies being a post-rock band. The song raise to a more pulsating crescendo, before fading to a calm end. It's a very pleasant listen, and I'm eagerly awaiting the album to come. Neat stuff.

Copyright © 2012 Håvard Oppøyen