All the time I’ve spent listening to the best music of 2008 has made my ear a mite picky, so it’s with some surprise that an album has already caused me to create a Best of 2009 folder. The band that made that happen is Silverlake’s Lower Heaven, and the album is their debut full-length, Ashes, officially released this coming Tuesday.

Clues to the tone and setting of their work come from the band name, which is taken from the lyrics of “Higher Hell” by Echo and the Bunnymen, as well as production by Rob Campanella (Brian Jonestown Massacre) and mixing and mastering by Rick Parker (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, with whom Lower Heaven has played).

Marcos Chloka’s distant vocals bubble up from some deep undersea realm, while Tommy Danbury’s electric guitar pulses in trance-enducing ripples your ears can’t resist following. Their parts are underlaid by the consuming undercurrent of Christina Park’s bass and Stephen Swesey’s subtle drumming. Chloka’s electric autoharp adds silvery, glittering chings! like glimmers of light. Every song has magic and a shimmery beauty, and there are no fillers or fluff. Beyond the obvious 80’s influence, I hear something deeper in some songs that reminds me of the Doors’ Strange Days–lost in the dark but somehow comfortable with it.

Although the year is young and there’s a lot to listen to between now and December, Ashes has the beauty, consistency, and ability to stand up to repeated plays that I look for. I’m putting it in that 2009 folder now because I want to come back to it later and see if it still sounds as good as it sounds now. Highly recommended!

Lower Heaven will be performing at Spaceland in Hollywood on Tuesday, March February 10. I hope to be there.

Lower Heaven: Fruitless from Ashes (2009)

Video: “Waves”

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Filed under: album review, Christina Park, Lower Heaven, Marcos Chloka

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