LowCityRain
Self-Titled
Prophecy Productions
Street: 09.27
Lowcityrain = The Chameleons + Lowlife + Asylum Party
This record charges from the gate with the melancholic anthem, “You are everyone, you are everywhere.” As jangling new wave inspired chords cascade, driving bass and drums pump the track full of energy, a modest female vocal croons the title of the song and in these first three minutes, I’m left gasping. The following tracks wander through the uncertainties of Markus Siegenhort, a young German whose primary work is with the avant black metal band Lantlôs. There are nods to late ’80s alt music, when goths took to arenas to deliver dark dirges to wider audiences. Siegenhort’s post-punk baritone shifts through similar brooding sonic pathways— cold synths, heavy bass, melancholic guitars—all played by himself, and through similar thematic territory—urban nights and modern love. Simply put, this is one of those rare albums that contemplates perfectly the life that many of us have been living. –Christian Schultz