• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Oct 01, 2021 Web Exclusive By Dom Gourlay

If there’s one thing the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t curtailed, its creativity where great art is concerned. Take Hull, England sextet Low Hummer for example. There are a band that only came together in its present form months before the world shut down completely. Yet here they are, entering the latter stages of 2021 with one of the year’s finest debuts tucked away under their belts.

It’s been a momentous 18 months in many ways for the band, culminating in a record deal with highly respected Leeds independent Dance to the Radio while also bagging a coveted support slot on the Manic Street Preachers’ autumn headline tour. But then of course none of this would be possible if Low Hummer didn’t have the songs to back it up. Which they do in abundance.

Listening to Modern Tricks For Living, the band’s debut album, several facets immediately jump out, not least the eclecticism that each of the band’s five individual members brought to the process. Musically disparate yet clearly defined as a whole, this collection highlights their prowess as one of the most captivating UK bands around right now, particularly when it comes to conveying personal stories and emotions.

“Never Enough” takes musical direction from the early post-punk nuances of bands like The Cure and The Associates, vocalist Aimee Duncan urging “Take control! Take control!” over a concoction of woozy keyboards and choppy riffs that sound fresh and invigorating for these times. The venomous “Don’t You Ever Sleep” finds co-vocalist Daniel Mawer providing a narrative about life in his home city over an urgent melody that fuses electro-pop with garage rock to maximum effect.

Elsewhere, “Sometimes I Wish (I Was A Different Person)” and “I Choose Live News” show the band’s more incendiary side while desolate lullaby “Commercials” takes a somber look at the world around them. Indeed, Modern Tricks For Living sounds like the first chapter of a diary that’s about to evolve dramatically in the next installment.

For a bunch of self-proclaimed misfits, Low Hummer might just be your favorite new band. Kitchen sink drama hasn’t sounded this appealing for many a year. (www.lowhummer.com)

Author rating: 8/10