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Listen to The Lower 48
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The Lower 48 came to Portland from Minneapolis in 2009, bringing with them the lovely Everywhere to ...The Lower 48 came to Portland from Minneapolis in 2009, bringing with them the lovely Everywhere to Go EP. Now the group has a full-length album for your ears, and they're celebrating its release with a show at the Doug Fir on December 29. For my money, that show will be the best thing going in town during the week between Christmas and New Year's.
Their new record, Where All Maps End, turns out to be a complete delight from start to finish, an easygoing folk-pop record that's full of hidden, surprising depth and ear-massaging melody. You can check out opening track "The End" below, but AOL/Spinner goes one better, streaming the whole album in full over at their site this week. You definitely want to go there and hear it all.
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Mad Mackerel's Mega Round-Up
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The Lower 48 release their first full length album, Where All Maps End in the middle of December. Th...The Lower 48 release their first full length album, Where All Maps End in the middle of December. The End is the first taste and showcases their warm organic sound and 60s folk influences beautifully without ever being derivative – one to look out for.
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Impose Review
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The album has an all-around homemade, lo-fi feel, and the songwriting is mostly right on point. Sara...The album has an all-around homemade, lo-fi feel, and the songwriting is mostly right on point. Sarah Parson plays guitar and piano, Ben Braden plays guitar and bass and Nicholas Sadler plays drums and harmonica, and tonally they hover somewhere between early Iron & Wine and a partially unplugged Scrawl on some of their material. Sarah’s deep, earthy, echo-ey vocals on “Into The Woods” are spooky and transcendent. (Is that a digital delay they’re using on the vox?) Parson also has a natural hiccup in her throaty voice that gives some songs an added curve. On “Smoke Will Rise” she almost sounds like a cross between Ani Difranco and Toni Childs. “Traveling Tune” has an understated power, partnered with a sparsely plucked banjo, and “Come Awake” is delirious and detached. There’s a lot going on here, and this album bodes very well for the future of The Lower 48.
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Radar
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Songwriters and sweet harmonizers Ben Braden and Sarah Parson along with percussionist Nicholas Sadl...Songwriters and sweet harmonizers Ben Braden and Sarah Parson along with percussionist Nicholas Sadler, all Minneapolis natives who migrated west to Portland, form the budding alt/folk triumverate The Lower 48. Their new debut album Where All Maps End is delightfully all over the, err, map, as 60's styled twee folk/pop melodies and intertwined vocal interplay bump up against the random odd instrumental detour -- witness the impeccable and totally unpredictable "Into the Woods" or the wonderful "Interlude 1".
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Kids These Days...
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Kids these days–doing drugs, having promiscuous sex and, apparently, crafting beautifully delicate f...Kids these days–doing drugs, having promiscuous sex and, apparently, crafting beautifully delicate folk melodies. The Lower 48, an underage quartet from Minneapolis, has accumulated more buzz before the band members’ 20th birthdays than most rockers do in a lifetime. And their debut EP, Everywhere To Go (Grape Juice), only dropped November 3. Download “Transmissions, Pt. 1? to get a sense of the band’s quirky take on classic folk melodies. Not too shabby, kids. Now there’s just the long wait til 21 …
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Gettin' Down With The Lower 48
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When one thinks of Minnesota, they generally think of an endless landscape with not a whole lot exce...When one thinks of Minnesota, they generally think of an endless landscape with not a whole lot except for the Mall of America and lots of lakes (rumor has it at 10,000.) However, looks and common perceptions can certainly be deceiving. There is something warm and inviting hidden in this otherwise blustery state, a band known as The Lower 48.
The Lower 48, currently on the Chicago based Grapejuice Records, released their first EP “Everywhere To Go” Wednesday, July 15th. They did so by having two EP release shows, one in their hometown of Minneapolis and here in Chicago at Reggie’s Rock Club, a venue notorious for hosting any underground act that comes its way. The band consists of Colin on Viola, Noah on Bass/Guitar, Ben on Guitar/Tamborine/Drums, and Sarah on Guitar/Piano. With each throwing in their share of vocals throughout the mix, Sarah being the standout with her smoky pipes, it is a combination that certainly works quite well.
The Lower 48 have only been a band since January of this year, but upon listening to “Everywhere To Go”, one would imagine them to have many years of fine tuning underneath their belt. Throw in the fact that every musician in this group is under 20 years old, and you get an intelligent, beautiful folk rock group that are above and beyond expectations. When listening to the EP, one immediately gets a sense of hope and desire for something beyond themselves; a simple life in an otherwise complicated world.
While each track upon this EP is certainly worth listening to, the stand out track is “Miles From Minnesota.”With the dueling vocals of Ben and Sarah combined with the passionate melody of the viola, it is a song that would certainly resonate with the ears of anyone so fortunate to come across it. Invoking a sound that could be compared from The Moldy Peaches to Cursive, the group allows even the hardest of hearts to break free and let a smile to creep across their face. As the rest of the EP continues on, one is left with a sense of absolute bliss and hunger for just one more listen.
Overall, The Lower 48 has come a long way for a band who has only been together for six months. There are many artists who deserve any attention they can get, but this group currently tops my list. To hear more of their music, check out the link below and be prepared for a unforgettable musical experience. The Lower 48, be prepared to change your name to The Upper 1.
Websites: http://www.myspace.com/heylookitsthelower48
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The Lower 48
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A beautiful sound has been born. It belongs to The Lower 48, a new band emerging from Minneapolis. T...A beautiful sound has been born. It belongs to The Lower 48, a new band emerging from Minneapolis. This quartet of young musicians, all under the age of 20, have crafted their own very original sound with its roots in folk but decorated with swelling strings, sweet harmonies, mature lyrics, and one of the sexiest female voices you’ve ever heard.
The band has just released Everywhere To Go, a 5 song EP that is sure to make you their newest fan. The EP starts out with a slow strumming guitar accompanied by two perfectly blended voices that set the tone for the rest of the album. Every track emphasizes how talented the band is, and Sarah’s voice just grabs you and won’t let go. To say it’s beautiful would be an understatement. When the album ends with the big chorus sing-along, you find yourself angry there isn’t more.
Everywhere To Go has grabbed my attention and I can’t wait to hear what’s next from The Lower 48.
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Transmission Pt. 1
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It's all been a bit of a rush over the past few days, so I have barely had time to upload this, let ...It's all been a bit of a rush over the past few days, so I have barely had time to upload this, let alone write about it.
Anyway, this is a lovely track called Transmission Part 1 and is by a band called The Lower 48, from their debut EP titled Everywhere To Go.
The band are a four piece from Minnesota and are all under 20. Despite only forming at the turn of the year, they have already earned a reputation for crafting catchy, yet intelligent folk-rock through a series of haunting live performances. Everywhere To Go captures the wistful spirit that runs through The Lower 48, while showcasing the musicianship of its members.
This track has a beautiful meandering feel to it that runs through every second of the two and a half minutes it is around, and it certainly left us wanting more as soon as it was over.
The EP was released in July and can be downloaded from iTunes. More information on the band at their MySpace page here.
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The Scoop on The Lower 48
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The scoop: It figures we'd get turned onto this band just a few weeks before they are due to pick up...The scoop: It figures we'd get turned onto this band just a few weeks before they are due to pick up and leave Minneapolis for the West Coast. The quartet will be moving to Portland soon, but we still have a few weeks to claim the the Lower 48 as a local band. We recently caught the two main vocalists, Ben and Sarah, performing as a duo at the Cedar Cultural Center, and found ourselves mesmerized by Sarah's smoky, otherworldly vocal melodies and the pair's knack for cutesy folk songwriting and banter.
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Young Quartet Release Debut EP
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After first listening and being intrigued by The Lower 48's debut EP, Everywhere to Go, I got a hold...After first listening and being intrigued by The Lower 48's debut EP, Everywhere to Go, I got a hold of the band's press release and was surprised to find that not only has the quartet only been together since January of this year, but every member is under the age of 20. The five folk tunes comprising the new EP certainly carry a sense of bright-eyed youthfulness, but the poise and talent with which this group executes their songs is nothing short of remarkable. Also, the sultry, smokey voice (something like an earthier version of Thao from The Get Down Stay Down or maybe Alison Sudol of a Fine Frenzy) belonging to the band's female lead could fool just about anyone. Highlights from the group include the simple folk duet "Transmission Pt. 1" and the emotive pop ballad "Bedroom," each tune showing a slightly different aspect to the group's sound and making me excited to hear what these four do next and - hopefully - soon. Give them a listen below.
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Young but Mature... The Lower 48
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Upon listening to the included track, "Transmissions Pt. 1", I was immediately impressed by the matu...Upon listening to the included track, "Transmissions Pt. 1", I was immediately impressed by the maturity and the simpleness of their sound. There's no glitz or glam or pretentious lyrics, just a heartfelt and homespun sound that hits you'd expect from the likes of She and Him or Bon Iver. Def take a listen and see if it impresses you as much as it does me:
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Where All Maps End
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They’re very good at this, the Americans. Especially the young ones (and these are young one!) - th...They’re very good at this, the Americans. Especially the young ones (and these are young one!) - this kind of readily accessible indie/folk/ americana; the kind you like effortlessly but doesn't wear out its welcome in double quick time. There’s an easy confidence and assuredness to how they do it, a sense of ownership that infuses it with feelings of honesty, sincerity and authenticity, even when its creators seem barely old enough to make such sepia and bucolic sounds.
This Minneapolis trio, relocated to Oregon, have fashioned an old and familiar sound into familiar sounding new songs with just the right amount of now to not sound dated and rehashed. There’s warmth here, but also something oddly unsettling, like cold water being added to a warm bath; as on opener “The End”, which on the face of it, is about friendships ending. More so on the following “Into The Woods”, Sarah Parson’s haunting vocals, somewhere between Cat Power and Joanna Newsom add a welcome chill to a warm sound.
There are elements of Sufjan Stevens in the mix, see 'Traveling Tune', and a lot of it sounds and feels familiar, and it’s hard to escape the feeling they are children of The Decemberists. However, this is a record of more than the sum of its influences.
