 
By Jeff Kalmbach What has music come to? Disco punk. American Idol. Dime-a-dozen screamo bands. Bach masterpieces reinterpreted with a “new jack swing” feel for cell phone ring tones. The Grammy’s. It seems like one aural travesty after another these days. Record labels pander to the lowest common denominator in hopes to ship out another thousand coaster-worthy units. Free dvds, free posters, $4 more for the flip out packaging. And what do you get with all of that? Piss poor records that are on the high road to the clearance rack. Amidst the storm of ridiculous musical trends there is an occasional breath of fresh air. From the underbelly of the San Francisco’s rock scene is the group Lower Forty-Eight who offer a truly refreshing brand of music. There is a great deal of personality in the sound of this group. What’s more is the honesty behind it. There is nothing contrived about the music and yet it is of the highest caliber. They don’t sound like a ripoff of anybody, they don’t sound like they are going for an MTV spot, they sound like Lower Forty-Eight. The ability to have ones own musical personality is the kind of maturity that few groups ever develop. Begun in 2000 by Guitarist/vocalist Andy Lund (Spackle, Lo Han, Guilt Trip City, The Rail Gun Ensemble), drummer Phil Becker (Landshark), and Ian Swanke (Spackle, Oahu, The Rail Gun Ensemble), LFE has created a genre of its own by combining the emotional content of early hardcore (a la Black Flag) with a sophistication of rhythm that harks of Stravinsky while a unique harmonic sense serves as the canvas for a gratifying melodicism which ties it all together in a way that manages to remain continually intriguing without become alienating. This is the kind of music that is enjoyable from the first listen and retains its excitement through the hundredth listen. The first E.P. Gentle Tyranny and first full-length Half-Back were both released on the King of Sticks co-op (which has released several other recordings with the same guys - Andy’s on almost all of them). After these recordings Ian Swanke left and was replaced by Grady Mutzel (Model) who played on the band’s 2003 full length entitled Skin Failure, released on the UK Monotreme label. A record that solidified the sound of Lower Forty-Eight (which refers to what Alaskans call the contiguous 48 US states by the way), Skin Failure is a much more focused and precise record in comparison to their earlier efforts. Since then, LFE has toured Europe with fellow Monotreme band The Mass in fall 2004 and are currently in the studio finishing their third full-length. A musical journey of their own, LFE is a breath of fresh air. Especially in comparison to the stagnant world of commercial music that we are all barraged with. Check out http://www.lowerforty-eight.com/ for record purchases, show dates, and news. |
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