Customer Reviews

Oh My God Charlie Darwin [Vinyl]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first bought "Oh My God, Charlie Darwin" directly from the band's website last year. The disc arrived in an artfully hand-stamped, hand-numbered cardboard sleeve. Within that lay a black labeled disc that contained some of the most sublime music of 2008. This wasn't my first introduction to the band, as What The Crow Brings was among my favorite records of 2007. Opening with the darkly hopeful "The Ballad of the Broken Bones" instantly suggested to me that The Low Anthem had a bit of insight into the human soul. Listening to the following tracks "Yellowed by the Sun" and "As the Flame Burns Down" only served to confirm my initial thoughts.

So when I heard of the imminent release of "Oh My God, Charlie Darwin" in August of 2008, I immediately made plans to purchase the record. I admit, I didn't think the band would be able to follow up their previous work, much less surpass it. It's a testament to the artists involved that they not only produced a worthy third album, but created their most layered work to date. First track "Charlie Darwin", which Paste Magazine readers may recall appeared on one of their monthly discs, is absolutely fantastic. Genius. Brilliant. I give up! I can't think of enough superlatives for even the one track.

Speaking of Paste Magazine, their July '09 issue rated this album a 90 out of 100 along with review that favorably highlights the lyric "The lords of war just profit from decay". Curiously, Rolling Stone quoted that same lyric and claimed the album "suffered" because of it. They ultimately gave three out of five stars along with a review that totals all of three sentences. Allmusic, for their part, awarded the album four out of five stars while the English magazine Uncut awarded the same.

Lyrics like "Set the sails I feel the winds a'stirring, toward the bright horizon set the way, cast your wreckless dreams upon our Mayflower, haven from the world and her decay" stick with you long after the track has ended. Then you're immediately faced with second track "Ohio", which isn't as lyric intensive but is every bit as heart wrenchingly beautiful. Suddenly, "The Horizon is a Beltway" blares through your speakers. It's a cacophonous affair, all gravely vocals and foot stomping rhythm, and a marked change from the previous tracks. But it works, and it works quite well.

The Low Anthem stumble a bit with "Home I'll Never Be", as it ratchets up the tempo once more but comes off as a late night drunken jam session. It's not a bad song, but rather a weak one. I've never seen The Low Anthem on stage, so I'm willing to bet serious money this track would translate much better in a live setting. This is a track that demands immediacy, something which simply doesn't come about in a pre-recorded album. "Ticket Taker", a simple acoustic song, comes across much more pleasantly with lyrics like "They say before he bit it, the boxer felt no pain, but somewhere there's a gamblin' man, with a ticket in the rain."

Even the record-ending reprises are gorgeous, particularly "OMGCD", which is a more lively, upbeat take on the first track. It was a welcome surprise to see this album getting a higher profile re-release this year on Nonesuch records, especially since this record wasn't even available by conventional means upon its initial release. I offer the most sincere recommendation to check this music out, which their website accurately describes as "gorgeous chamber folk".

For fans of acts like:
Pinetop Seven The Night's Bloom
Dolorean You Can't Win
Sun Kil Moon April
Magnolia Electric Co. Josephine
Josh Ritter The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter

This album is both haunting and foot stomping at different times - a pretty phenomenal accomplishment. (And I can't believe RS actually published the review they did - not because their critic gave it a mediocre review, but because his three sentence (3 sentence!) review was obviously tossed off without nary a listen. It's like the author just wanted to collect his fee without actually giving the band or the album its due.) I highly recommend this album, but also hope that you will be able to listen without prejudice.

From the brilliant falsetto on the dream-like "Charlie Darwin" to the dustbowl imagery of "Ohio" to the raucous "The Horizon is a Beltway", Providence's The Low Anthem have created a phenomenal album from front to back, using their instruments to paint a different picture on each and every song.

This turned out to be one of my favorite albums in 2009. A very solid set of great tunes. I've heard people throw in comparisons to Tom Waits, Springsteen, CSN, and various "Americana" and alt-country bands, but Low Anthem manages to create a sound of their own by combining many styles. The result is a fabulously cohesive album with stellar songs such as "Ohio". Can't wait to hear more from this fine band.

I Like Tom Waits, The Felice Brothers,and Wilco. So Americana. so good. Now Ive added Low Anthem to that list. The Darwin album was so good I bought thier 07 releace What The Crow Brings and I enjoy that too.

Haunting music, really atmospheric. Great traveling music when you're headed west across the the flatland. Full moon, stars, and the wolf howling (if you live in Minnesota). Wonderful compositions. Simple, yet the arrangements intrigue.

Rhode Island-based trio The Low Anthem issued quite a nice debut album "What the Crow Brings" in 2007. Afterwards, the band retreated, recorded and self-released "Oh My God, Charlie Darwin" in 2008. After slowly gaining buzz within the indie-music community, the band was signed to Nonesuch Records, and the album was re-released earlier this year.

"Oh My God, Charlie Darwin" (12 tracks; 42 min.) brings the band's take on Americana. The opener "Charlie Darwin" is a showcase for the band's gorgeous vocal harmonies (think Fleet Foxes). It is followed by "To Ohio", a beautiful ballad about a lover leaving Lousiana tring to get to Ohio to see his girl, an outstanding track (and reminding me in theme and sound of Sun Kil Moon's track "Carry Me Ohio"). On tracks 4 and 5, "The Horizon Is a Beltway" and "Home I'll Never Be", the band explodes with energy, as if we're in a bar 100 years ago. After that, things slow down again for more mood pieces like "Cage the Songbird" (again with gorgeous vocals) and "(Don't) Tremble". "Music Box is a short instrumental of, yes, a music box (mostly). The final 2 tracks "OMGCD" and "To Ohio (Reprise)" sum up the album perfectly.

In all, this is a fantastic album from start to finish. Not a single weak track, in my opinion. I had the good fortune of catching the Low Anthem in concert at Bonnaroo earlier this year, and they put on a great set, playing mostly songs from this album, check them out live if you can. Finally, it you wonder where you can hear these guys, check out WOXY (BAM! The Future of Rock and Roll), the internet-only station that brings the best indie-music in the country, bar none.

This is my first foray into The Low Anthem realm. I grabbed this Low Anthem album CD at the suggestion of Alan Cross on his podcast, and am overall pleased with his suggestion, which is often not the case.

Due to the fact that I am not a long time fan, I do not have any preconceived ideas about this band, and thus my judgment of this band is entirely based upon the merits of this album. Overall I believe this band, and this album warrants your attention.

I think it is interesting that even before researching anything about this group, I listened to this album and found it to be somewhat of a two-headed beast of an album. A musical yin and yang of sorts, and what I imagined what was two main artists sharing the creative control of this album, and my quick glance into Wikipedia confirmed as much. There is a very dramatic and different dynamic to the music on this album. For a perfect example of this stylistic contrast, listen to the difference between `Home I'll Never Be' and `Cage the Song Bird'.

This album would likely best cater to an americana-esque following that has sounds that loosely resemble the Weepies, Band of Horses and Amos Lee, with a rustic southern flair that ranges into the Wood Brothers genre. One of the things that kept me interested is the wide array of sounds presented by this group, which at time includes the americana staple of the banjo and mandolin, but occasionally delve into organs and horns.

In listening to an album, I was trying to imagine what the musical demographic for a The Low Anthem fan would be, and was struggling with that question until I read that they had toured with The Avett Brothers. Bingo. If you don't agree with that, listen to `The Horizon is a Beltway'. Don't get me wrong, other than occasional instrumentation, they do not resemble Avett at all. However, if you are Avett fan, then you understand the need to be that fan that is not turned off by a banjo, mandolin or harmonica and is ready to go from something tender, raw and emotional to a thumping rock tune in a matter of seconds.

My favorite on this album `(Don't) Tremble'.

This album has an eclectic collection of their music. Got it on vinyl and the richness of the sounds is amazing! Definitely check this out. My favoirte o nthis is Champion Angel - be ready to dance! Rest of the album is more mellow, but just as good. The more I listen, the more I like!

Want something a little different? OMGCD delivers great soulful music, with some songs that really have a punch. I didn't really know what to expect with this one. Saw the band at the end of David Letterman show and became curious. Check out the songs samples.