The Low Frequency In Stereo - Futuro [2009]

WIth their prior album scoring a nomination for a Norwegian Grammy, The Low Frequency In Stereo raise their game, recruiting a wealth of Norwegian talent for this first outing on Rune Grammofon. Fiddler extraordinaire Nils Okland helps out, as does Ultralyd sax player Kjetil Moster (recently heard guesting on Svarte Greiner’s latest) and knob-twiddling duties are taken up by Norwegian super producer Jorgen Traen (famed for his work with The National Bank, Jaga Jazzist, Jazzkammer and Sondre Lerche). The band’s sound isn’t terribly easy to classify, although you can hear elements of krautrock and Stereolab permeating every beat of every bar. Were it not for the fastidious mixing, you could well imagine TLFIS slipping into Sonic Youth-style garage-drone dirges, and you can certainly hear the band encroaching on that sort of sound during ‘The End Is The End’. However, as with so many of the acts on Rune Grammofon, these guys come across as consumately accomplished musicians, and you’ll hear little in the way of one-chord pummeling here: during opener ‘Turnpike’ you’ll encounter Hammond organ soloing and slick surf guitar, all of which complicates the usual hipster motorik references. In fact, it’d be fair to suggest that this band’s single biggest strength is its ability to adopt that Lali Puna/Notwist-style ability to sound like total muso nerds and great pop artists all at the same time.