MIDWEST MUSIC COLLECTIVE

I’ve been following the Milwaukee-based Soul Low since their first album Uneasy which was released just over three years ago. What made them so interesting at first was how different they sounded from anyone else. Soul Low stood alone in the middle of several different genres that make it hard for music writers to pin them down to anything. Their Facebook lists them as jank pop and bandcamp says they are rock for non-rock appreciators and that might honestly be the best description for them. Uneasy has songs like ‘Take Time’ which starts with a slow, spacey indie riff and then takes off into a wild pace only to shift back down only 30 seconds later. This varying pace could be disorienting for some, but their musicality and steady bass lines keep you moving along with little difficulty. There’s also the eccentricity of lyrics Soul Low brings on tracks like ‘Silence’ which proudly declares that “cocaine feels pretty darn great.” While Uneasy is a fantastic outing, it certainly wasn’t the limit of the sounds they’d be willing to try. The Kindred Spirits EP starts off with a heavy distortion only to shift back into their usual lighter sound with a third verse contributed by WebsterX, a Milwaukee hip-hop artist, proving their sound truly transcends genre as nothing changes for WebsterX’s verse and the song continues as normal afterwards. Their entire catalog is a cacophony of brilliant sounds and melodies that work together intricately, which brings us to Tied In Knots the second single of the upcoming album Nosebleeds. This track continues the tradition of wildly unique music and lead singer Jake Balistrieri’s signature nasally-accentuated vocals. Tied In Knots starts with quick blast of drums before the softer twang of indie guitar floats in front and then both fade out for what almost sounds like island drums for the verse. Rather than your regular indie fare having a more folksy rhythm and pattern, Tied In Knots seems to have more of a reggae/punk feel like if the Bad Brains were to cover a JAWS song in some respects. It also follows the Soul Low trend of slow-fast-slow pacing in their songs. Overall, Tied In Knots is a standard Soul Low song and sounds very familiar to a lot of their previously released music. There is no large departure from previous records, but because everything they do is very unique the track still sounds very fresh when compared to everyone else. Nosebleeds releases next month, but you can check out the first two singles on bandcamp. You can also follow the band on Facebook to catch up on news and tour info.