Lower Dens – Lock Tavern, Camden – 18/11/10
4/5
By: Josh Daniel
Shoegaze never really left, did it? A self-confessed latecomer, I’ve worked my way backwards, having unfortunately spent the 90s weaning myself off Oasis. At the Lock Tavern in Camden for Lower Dens’ first ever UK appearance, I saw it rear its bleary eyed head yet again.
The band shuffle onto stage and begin a modestly dynamic set-list that increases with energy and ferocity through the evening. Their stage presence, or lack of, might be reflected in their rounding up of influences - that is to say, it’s as ramshackle as their outfits. The laid back, hidden-away vocals antagonised a friend of mine, “Whats the point in singing [so quietly]? Sing louder!” she hollered in to my ear, but amongst the guitar swells a shyness appears to float contentedly, finding comfort in the shoegaze ethos of draping oneself in these albeit relatively thin layers of sound. One can't really imagine them strategizing, consciously trying to diminish this or that influence, so evident is their confidence in the songs. However indebted they may be to their sonic forefathers, these mini-epics with a touch of west-coast ambience are just unique enough.
The muddled lyrics, pining rather than yearning vainly, insist upon closer listening. The occasional drawling backing vocals from bassist Geoff add a welcome if unexpected harmony to Jana's delicate voice, and the skeletally framed crescendos and ever changing song lengths and rhythms could either be attributed to self indulgence or else a comfort with their almost distressingly simple set-up. But the show is enjoyable from either perspective – can it really be this easy?
Where other bands might stretch or bend an idea (like Women, for example) and take it to a different place, always looking over yonder for another base at which to touch, Lower Dens sit happily in their cloud strewn landscape, stoned imaginings of shapes in the sky providing ample entertainment - a cloudy silhouette of an androgynous haircut beside a Fender store with a blurred Kevin Shields poster in the window, perhaps. Singer Jana has been performing for a few years and has released even more restrained (if not peculiar) songs on Devendra Banhart’s Gnomonsong label. Tonight she is humble, not quite engaging, but perhaps just waiting for a cue from a curious crowd unsure of where, ideologically and geographically, the music is really coming from.
Artists in this article: Lower Dens
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