Low In The Sky

On their second album, this Akron band cover a wide variety of sounds with punctuation from hip-hop-informed drum patterns. For the most part, a moody atmosphere predominates, with heavy emphasis on acoustic guitar, both acoustic and electronic keys, and unidentifiable ambient elements. But it’s the minority of the time when break beats are present that one feels they should just go with the feeling a little longer. Given that these songs are of the compact three- or four-minute variety, it seems like a beat is always on the verge of dropping. But often, when Low In The Sky hang on a repeated sample or piano note, the tension ratchets up, only to see the songs just end. Not unlike Miracle Fortress, minus the Beach Boys influences, the aim seems to be to create short suites with all the range of epics three times their size. On that front, despite the range of instrumentation, the choices are a bit predictable: dominant acoustic guitar slightly soured by detuning, tom fills, glockenspiel, flattened digital keyboard tones with occasional new wave licks, etc. The whole seems like it’s begging for the label of "widescreen” to be attached, sounding a bit like Do Make Say Think in spots, as in the latter part of "The Pursuit Of The Giant Squid.” The tableau of sound is a mere backdrop searching for a focal point that left me cold.