Lowenbad
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Lowenbad

Portland, Oregon, United States | SELF

Portland, Oregon, United States | SELF
Band Alternative Soul

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

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"Building with "Bricks""

Lowenbad is a six-piece Portland band that is an edgy combination of new-school R&B, trip-hop, and rock. The band's new CD, "Bricks for the Naysayers" is long on strong production and the powerful vocals of Holly Cole.

Piping it up a big like Christina Aguilera, Cole has the muscle to hang with the thick and lush sound of the CD. On a cut like "Adjusting", she shows tremendous soul, verve and attitude, ably backed by a lush chorus, a dreamy piano vamp, loping groove, and the guitar of Dallas Jamme.

Cole can lay it back with good effect as well, as on "Flash Forward". It's acoustic guitar, strings, and jazzy sax and electric guitar interplay, played against a strong back-beat, is a laid-back dance groove, dripping with soul.

Cole can carry a mean melody, but also uses her voice to good effect as a rhythm instrument ("Scared" and "You're Welcome"). Productions credits go to Cole's husband and Lowenbad bass player, Bradley Swanson. The overall sound, start to finish, is a dark and urban vibe. There's enough funk, throbbing rock, and even a bit of Afro-Cuban thrown in to keep the record interesting, along with a variety of ambient sounds (scratchy-record effects, the odd and overly-reverbed found-sound overdub, and synth).

Bonus tracks include dance remixes courtesy of Deckwrecka on two cuts, the opening cut "Bricks" and "Lust 'n' Lies."

Give Cole and Swanson huge credit for bravery, ambition and attempting something a little different in Portland. If they can pull off these tunes live, this is a band worth making the trek to hear in a downtown club. Otherwise, this CD shows good promise. - Don Campbell, The Oregonian


Discography

Debut album "Bricks for the Naysayers" released October 17, 2008.

Photos

Bio

Though influences can be heard, Lowenbad strives to be commercially accessible yet NOT to sound like anything available in the current market. Husband and Wife founders, Bradley Swanson (bass/production) and Holly Cole (lead vocals/lyrics), expose the interplay between them through songwriting and production. Stepping on each other's toes and crossing lines left and right, their song-writing and production talents are only further embellished with Doug Folen on drums and Cory Guinee-Cooper on guitar. Dark and heavy elements are woven together with catchy hooks, esoteric beats, and politically edged lyrics.

Amazing live and recorded, Lowenbad will succeed in entertaining and enlightening by making music as it should be: thought provoking, inspiring, different, progressive, and new.