Sometimes a change in style can be a good thing. After the untimely death of industrial metallers The Defiled, frontman Stitch D moved to America and spent time reinventing himself and his approach to music. Recruiting some top talent including former The Ataris bassist Steve Lucarelli, guitarist Jaxen Moore and experienced drummer Luke Johnson, Stitch – now going simply by Lee Downer – returned to the music scene with his grunge-revival outfit Lowlives in 2017, with first EP Burn Forever soon after. After a run of stand-alone singles which established their sound and grew their fanbase, the quartet signed to Spinefarm Records and dropped their first full-length, FREAKING OUT, in May. Was it worth the 7 year wait for a first album? Absolutely.
Bursting into action with the title track and throughout tracks like “GETTING HIGH ON BEING LOW”, “YOU DON’T CARE” and “DAMIEN”, FREAKING OUT shows that Lowlives are packed with high energy riffs and catchy choruses, with Downer unafraid to re-visit his harsh vocal style when appropriate. These are the sorts of tracks you’d expect to be all over rock radio in the late 90s and early 00s, and would still light up a venue today. The album oozes with 90s nostalgia with a modern twist, leaning heavily on the likes of Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins for influence but happy to add their own spin to prevent things becoming derivative. Downer has a distinctive voice which helps Lowlives avoid just becoming another disposable grunge-revival wannabe, and even though they don’t particularly offer anything new or even all that original, they do what they do extremely well and that’s the most important thing in this sort of music. A fun easter egg for those who have been following the band from the beginning can be found at the end of “SWAN DIVE”, as the outro feels a lot like a reprise of the 2021 single “I Don’t Like You”.
However, the pacing of the album is a bit erratic, with the album bouncing back and forth from its more high energy tracks and mid-paced offerings like “LIAR” and “LOSER” breaking up the momentum that was otherwise building. It’s tricky to find a balance in situations like this – it’s not that these are bad tracks, but when you’re hyped up by the previous tracks and then end up with one of these songs, it can kill the buzz somewhat. Saving the acoustic driven “VERTIGO” to close the album was definitely the right call, but where do you put the others? A sacrifice had to be made and that’s how we ended up with the track order we have. “LOSER” in particular would have hit a lot better with a different positioning.
That’s a minor quibble though. Lowlives have plenty of time to work out these issues before they start work on album #2 and time on the road will help them figure out how best to structure set lists, which will then reflect in how they arrange future albums. For now, we have a fantastic album for those who long for the 90s as well as modern rock fans looking for a healthy fix of riffs and hooks.
FREAKING OUT is out now on Spinefarm Records. Follow Lowlives on Facebook for updates and stream the album below.
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