Low Moder Low Moder EP

For their first musical venture, Low Moder become kings of clangour, forging a stylistic alloy of musical fragments mined from some of rock’s doomiest depths. Despite sonically signposting their influences for all to hear – with early Swans-esque howls riding the dynamic crests of ‘Herding Cats’ and the deranged strumming of ‘Peace Prize’ channelling the introverted musicianship of Slint – Low Moder bypass banality with subversive instrumentation and a grounded sense for juxtaposition.

This antithetical approach appears clearest on the aforementioned ‘Herding Cats’. Here, macroscopic social commentaries, such as the well-worn lamentation over “the decline of the British high street” (a line chanted to cultish lengths), sit beside lyrical evocations starkly depicting the mundanity of modern living. With this, Low Moder have found their thematic home, employing the quaint tropes of British life to unromantically conceptualise grander socio-political injustices. This lyrical angle may seem vaguely platitudinous at first, especially in the wake of the current British post-punk revival fronted by bands such as Idles and Squid, but bolstered by the band’s unbridled energy, this thematic unoriginality is given new life.

With a mere six songs to showcase their potential, Low Moder pull no punches, twitching their way through climactic build-ups on ‘3 Times Hall of Famer’, raucous off-kilter garage rock on ‘Italy’s Closed’ and no wave-flecked freak-outs on ‘Matching Outfits’, unified by deft dynamic transitions and furiously imaginative drumming. The band are clearly unafraid to revel in shameless catharsis, proving that anything worth doing is definitely worth doing twice – especially if you’re screaming while doing it.