C'mon

Low | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 12, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sub Pop
• ASIN: B004NTVMCO
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,444 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

C'mon is the shortest title of any Low album, which seems fitting, as it also ranks among their most succinct and straightforward releases. Recorded in a former Catholic church, Sacred Heart Studio, the band took full advantage of the room's high, vaulted ceilings, natural reverb, and affinity for organ sounds and group singing. Whereas 2007's Drums and Guns railed against the war in Iraq, C'mon feels like a plea for humanity, decency and common sense in a world gone mad. Without curtailing their artistry one iota, the trio has made one of its most accessible, affecting albums to date.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Low - Scale the heights, April 12, 2011

By 

Red on Black (Cardiff) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: C'mon (Audio CD)

There is something very odd and perplexing about playing Yuletide albums all year round or on hot sunny days (e.g. - yesterday) but the great "Christmas" album by "Low" the Minnesotan slowcore masters repays regular listens and its fine quality partly reminds you of some of the themes of their new album "C'mon". In essence Low are a band who more than anything else produce the most gorgeous songs. "C'mon" was recorded at an old church in Duluth and is their ninth album in a very long career. It comes on top of this decades renaissance man Robert Plant showcasing two sparkling Low covers on his recent Band of Joy LP (Monkey and Silver Rider) and in doing so generating welcome interest in this critically lauded trio. Who cares if this album doesn't end up on sale in your local supermarket or deliver gold records for the trophy cabinet, what Low do is grace music lovers with the priceless service of producing music you can revere, which can soundtrack your variable life episodes and that can genuinely leave you wanting more.

On this album they have called in Nels Cline the innovative guitarist from Wilco to play on a couple of tracks including "Done" which you suspect may turn out to be one of their greatest songs with its almost 50s classic ballad feel and infused throughout by the trademark heart stopping dual vocals from Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker (it goes without saying that bassist Steve Garrington is as sure footed as ever). The album opens with the shimmering "Try to sleep" and you notice immediately the crisp production which enhances all these songs for which we must to thank Matt Beckley, a man best known for his work with the likes of Leona Lewis and Avril Lavigne (he should now be forgiven). On "Witches" there is more of the dark old Low of previous albums like the "Great Destroyer" and it combines a haunting lyric with a huge guitar backdrop. Coming hot the heals is the brooding "Especially Me" beautifully sung by Parker which also makes you wish the late great Dusty Springfield was alive to give it a turn with her trademark smokey vocals. One of the albums highlights is "$20" which has a sparse hymn like quality as Sparhawk repeatedly intones "that my love is for free" over a slower than slow reverb heavy guitar; alternatively "Nothing but heart" starts with a wall of Neil Young "Weld" era feedback which again shifts into a very low gear but slowly burns to a huge monster ballad over its eight minute plus length. Its climax is as hypnotic and dramatic as anything Low has previously produced and shows a band on top of its game. While there is nothing that can quite top this moment another song well worth a mention in dispatches is the gossamer light "Nightingale" which sounds like Beach House with electric guitars.

This band have travelled a long journey since the narcotic rock of their debut 1994s "I could live in hope" but its been one where the of musical trajectory has rarely pointed in any other direction than skyward. In the past two weeks this album has been streaming in full on the NPR website and your reviewers hit rate has been higher than a Mike Tyson fight. With well over 20 years in the business we have no right to expect an album as good as "C'mon". It is a hugely accessible and scarily assured recording which any self-respecting music lover should hunt down with the right level of understated fervour.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A new high for Low?, April 12, 2011

By 

H3@+h "Over 1500 reviews!" (thanks for the helpful review votes) - See all my reviews

This review is from: C'mon (MP3 Download)

It's hard to believe this is like their...8th or 9th album? The unknown Minnesota band keeps chugging along with the first release in four years. I tend to listen to them more in cold weather, but I welcome a Spring release. After a few listens this reminds me of their Things We Lost In The Fire album, kind of simple...sparse. "20" is a good duet between Alan and Mimi. "Witches" is a bit more noisy than the norm, but I like it.

I get kind of tired of every third band being compared to Neil Young in some way, but that's a sound I pick up in this album. Not a bad thing of course. Most of this folking rocks. Robert Plant should dig it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another masterpiece from Low, May 7, 2011

By 

James Holm (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: C'mon (Audio CD)

Not quite sure how this band can be so prolific while producing such fantastic music, but I certainly love the result. To my ear this work echoes "Things We Lost in the Fire" and is brighter (for Low) than "Drums and Guns" or "The Great Destroyer." Such a great listen, just buy it.