{"title":"Low Life","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLow Life is an artist known for their unique blend of post-punk and garage rock. Hailing from Sydney, Australia, *Low Life* has been making waves in the music scene with their raw and energetic sound. Drawing inspiration from bands like DIÄT and Iceage, *Low Life* creates music that is both gritty and melodic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith a discography that includes albums such as \"Dogging\" and \"Downer Edn,\" *Low Life* has garnered critical acclaim for their introspective lyrics and infectious hooks. Their songs tackle themes of disillusionment, isolation, and the struggles of everyday life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e*Low Life's* live performances are a force to be reckoned with. Known for their high-energy shows, they captivate audiences with their intense stage presence and powerful delivery. They have shared the stage with notable acts such as B Boys, Crack Cloud, and Gold Class.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"dogging-coloured","title":"Dogging (Coloured)","description":"\u003cp\u003eDeluxe LP edition pressed on Turquoise Vinyl and packaged in a 350g Gatefold Sleeve. One time pressing limited to 300 copies. There's an ordeal that underpins Low Life's 'Dogging,' and looking back at it, perhaps this was inevitable given the album's exceptionally derogatory attitude to its own scattered sense of time and debris. It's an attitude that's been hosed down in bore water-stained stupor, with all the anguished but forgivable hope and charm of plain packaged cigarettes. 'Dogging' crawled into the world desperately and painfully. Originally slated for release on Brisbane's singular Negative Guest List Records in 2012, the label's owner sadly passed away before it got there. It eventually emerged two years later as a split between two labels from the band's home turf of Sydney, Disinfect Records and R.I.P. Society. It's fitting that the latter had reissued Venom P. Stinger's Dugald McKenzie-era material the year prior—arguably the only other Australian band that compares to the tough, shit-kicking intensity found on 'Dogging.' Comprised of Mitch Tolman, Cristian O'Sullivan, and Greg Alfaro at this point (the current 2017 line-up includes Dizzy from Oily Boys), the reckless ferocity and defeatist's humour is pointedly nihilistic. It's not kitsch nihilism either, it's the kind that enlivens. Indexing happiness, fear, lust, grief, and sorrow, the wry indulgences outlined in Tolman's coded and scheming lyrics amount to white-knuckle sincerity. It's disarming, but it's blunted by a weighty smirk. If all this weren't delivered through a sardonic curled lip, the violence at the edge of it all would perhaps come off a little less real. There's a bitterly angry confrontation with the contemporary Australian psyche once you enter Low Life's estate. Thugged out and at pace, there's a genuine rush to 'Dogging.' The mindless logic of 'harder and faster' could never get you to where they were at this point. Even at the marginally calmer moments the guitars glance you like a headache revealing just how bad it is. There's no respite, but on the the whole it's a very functional arrangement between the three of them. Each song is belted out with a short, sharp fit, with some synthesisers occasionally glistening out at the edges. The restraint is all the more fierce as it amplifies everything that's fucked about them. Low Life pull you through it all on all their terms, and that impact feels as untimely and excessive now as it did then\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"Violet | LP","offer_id":50383560802635,"sku":"2002050","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50383560606027,"sku":"1134448","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/0672dd84-7357-42b7-a518-9047cb8e9854_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726272710"},{"product_id":"downer-edn","title":"Downer Edn","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe whole “five band years = a lifetime” biz trope is justified by the second album from Sydney’s Low Life. Arriving with an aura of anticipation,\u003ci\u003e Downer Edn\u003c\/i\u003e (read: Edition) feels like a collective document of the band's timeline since their unforgettable debut \u003ci\u003eDogging\u003c\/i\u003e; an album which made enough of a mark on the punk landscape in 2014 to justify a reissue on London's Alter in 2017. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecorded over two years and mixed in 2018 by Mikey Young (Total Control \/ Eddy Current Suppression Ring), \u003ci\u003eDowner Edn\u003c\/i\u003e sees the core trio of Mitch Tolman, Cristian O’Sullivan and Greg Alfaro expand their ranks to a five piece. Dizzy Daldal and Yuta Matsumura of Oily Boys and Orion were brought in to reinforce the thick wall of guitars, freeing Tolman up as a dedicated front man for live duties. The hours of studio work have resulted in the band sounding more confident and fully realised, reaching and finding a sound that was perhaps unattainable 5 years prior. However, lurking behind the bigger vision and polished production, \u003ci\u003eDowner Edn\u003c\/i\u003e is a complex proposition and remains a dark blast of an album. Expansive and cohesive, yet shimmering and rough; something they can be proud to call a definitive statement. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs far as Australian punk is concerned, \u003ci\u003eDowner Edition\u003c\/i\u003e not only shatters the boundaries applied by that descriptor, it does so with the lushest attack conceivable. Like their (admitted) influence, the enigmatic Ohio legends of obscurity, V3, seldom has the f*** word been sung (repeatedly) in such a believable and poetic manner. The visceral pounding of melodies throughout the album transforms their inspirations; desperation, neuroses, trauma, survival, hooliganism, violence, hope, rejuvenation, and their hometown of Sydney’s full architectural and social scope - from a realm of intangibility to the very, very tangible.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUnified on \u003ci\u003eRBB\u003c\/i\u003e, ruminating on \u003ci\u003e92\u003c\/i\u003e, chasing the escape on \u003ci\u003eRave Slave\u003c\/i\u003e, and unwillingly defiant on \u003ci\u003eWarrior, Downer Edition\u003c\/i\u003e reaches past the wild ride of \u003ci\u003eDogging\u003c\/i\u003e - this truly is the album that Low Life have been threatening to make for nearly a decade. Released in conjunction with Goner Records in the USA and Cool Death in Australia.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50498139619659,"sku":"1054791","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50498139980107,"sku":"1054790","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/86a7cb8a-233a-4744-8a5b-8a5dd2c1c16f_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1727740486"},{"product_id":"catholic-guilt-dream-machine-total-control-remix","title":"Catholic Guilt \/ Dream Machine (Total Control Remix)","description":"\u003cp\u003eNew singlefrom Sydney’s Low Life featuring two previously unreleased tracks which tie up loose endsfrom the band’s first wave period. \u003ci\u003eCatholic Guilt\u003c\/i\u003e was originally leftover from their \u003ci\u003eDogging\u003c\/i\u003e album sessions and re-mixed at the tail end of 2019 with additional overdubs. A signature blast of the group’s downer punk with washed out chorus-y guitars and self-deprecating lyrics. The B side has a remix of \u003ci\u003eDogging\u003c\/i\u003e album track \u003ci\u003eDream Machine\u003c\/i\u003e transformed into a minimal-synth banger by fellow Australian travelers Total Control. The sound of the Cosmic Psychos channeling the Pet Shop Boys\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"Black | 7\"","offer_id":50498687992139,"sku":"1089561","price":7.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/bce91e4f-b73d-4217-ab0c-40fdc268cc9e_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727753752"},{"product_id":"from-squats-to-lots-the-agony-and-xtc-of-low-life","title":"From Squats To Lots: The Agony And XTC Of Low Life","description":"\u003cp\u003eTHE BAND: Low Life are a rock band from Sydney, Australia. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eTHE RECORD: Low Life’s 3rd LP is called From Squats to Lots: The Agony and the XTC of Low Life.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eNOTES ON HOW TO LISTEN TO AGONY AND XTC OF LOW LIFE:\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e1. Some records hit you with an instant impression of timeless brilliance, and Low Life’s Dogging is one of those records, what the wise call “an instant classic”. \u003cbr\u003e2. From Squats to Lots: The Agony and the XTC of Low Life is more like their second album Downer Edn (read Edition), a little more withdrawn, a little more textured. Complex. Rich. Which is to say: you’re going to need some time with it. \u003cbr\u003e3. Some show, some grow. Low Life have done both. This one is a grower. Spend some time with this one. It’s got that nuanced flavour. Don’t guzzle. Sip. Savour. \u003cbr\u003e4. Sip it, and sense the recurring brilliance of Mitch Tolman’s lyrics, exploring the usual territory of gutter life, lad life, punk life, low life. The dirge. Disgust and shame in white Australia. Council housing, bills piled to the neck, substance abuse and rehabilitation, the fallen lads and lasses who stood too close to the flame, loss and loneliness, from squats to lots. Un-Australian gutter symphony.\u003cbr\u003e5. There is a celebration of resilience and that’s a central theme of this record and a time like ours needs a record like Agony \u0026amp; XTC. Low times are coming through, but if you’re low they won’t get to you. \u003cbr\u003e6. Iggy Pop’s Bowie produced studio rock masterpieces ‘The Idiot’ and ‘Lust For Life’ are important reference points to the 3rd album sounds of Low Life. Here comes success! \u003cbr\u003e7. ‘The Agony and Ecstasy’ is a 1985 novel by Irving Stone about the life of Italian Renaissance painter Michelangelo. Stone wrote another novel about the single eared painter Vincent Van Gogh called ‘Lust For Life’. This synchronicity hit me. \u003cbr\u003e8. Iggy and the Stooges are a pretty safe reference for Low Life (and all good rock music). Iggy and the Stooges are a low life’s Michelangelo, but solo Iggy like Lust for Life is a better reference for this particular incarnation of Low Life, which is to say they are studio rock albums.\u003cbr\u003e9. Bowie later referred to this period of his life as profoundly nihilistic. But Iggy looked at it as the period of his life that saved him from an early grave. This confrontation is Low life lore. \u003cbr\u003e10. Let’s stick to this, because there’s something about this era of Bowie that makes sense with Low Life’s new album, particularly Low. One should never miss the Low in our new album from Low Life. Producer and studio boss Mickey Grossman has the ear for the Low, and he has carved out a little statue of David right here. \u003cbr\u003e11. Mickey’s ears are recording, mixing and producing the best of Sydney, most notably the Oily Boys Cro Memory Grin. A great companion record to this one. Use Agony \u0026amp; XTC AFTER Oily Boys. Not on an empty stomach, and don’t try to operate heavy machinery (bobcat, bulldozer etc).\u003cbr\u003e12. The relationship between Low Life and Sydney hardcore should not be understated, but it also shouldn’t guide how to listen to Agony \u0026amp; XTC. This is not austere, disciplined music.\u003cbr\u003e13. Think, like, if Poison Idea were given the kind of studio time and budget as Happy Mondays. You wouldn’t play it to a teenager. It’s not for children. This is a mature flavour, one for the adults who have had to contend with failure and hardship, medical bills and disappointed family members, betrayed lovers and worrisome growths, police brutality and tooth decay, humiliating bowels and collapsed septums, detoxing and drying out, for those who have seen themselves as corrupted and putrid and unloveable, for those who endure all of this and aren’t willing to lie down and cop it sweet: Low Life are still here and they ain’t going nowhere. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eNOTES ON HOW NOT TO LISTEN TO AGONY AND XTC OF LOW LIFE:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. Don’t think of shoe-gaze. It suggests a safe passage to 90’s reminiscences, a vogue style of our time, but nothing to do with Low Life style. Low Life style is always of its time. The content changes. \u0026lt;in the 1800s Low life swept chimneys. Today Low Life works in call centres.\u0026gt; Agony \u0026amp; XTC shares weight of records like My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless and Slowdive’s Kebab, records that were laboured on after the songs were recorded, songs that were written as they were recorded. \u003cbr\u003e2. We can call these “studio albums” as opposed to albums built in the heat of live performance. Studio albums from the 90’s are called shoe-gaze by some journalist nerds, but we know better than to use words like this.\u003cbr\u003e3. Studio albums are excessive and, at the same time, so empty. Agony and XTC, Loveless, Kebab, Rumours: excessive! And empty. This is not to suggest this is Low Lite, some throwback, soft. A band like Low Life can make an overproduced studio rock album without having to use the word shoe-gaze. So, don’t think studio albums mean anything especially 90’s. Don’t look back.\u003cbr\u003e4. Let’s lose these distasteful labels, like “shoe-gaze”, “rehab rock”, “stab”, “guitar OD overdrive”, “western Sydney wonder”. They can fade out. A low life was once referred to as a vagabond. Who uses this term today? Nobody. Language can murder. Words can die. Kill ‘em all!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- Daniel 'DX' Stewart, Melbourne, 2021.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50504643739979,"sku":"1132935","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5350fb37-5b4e-491e-b9de-ae36265f88e1_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727808260"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_6f71796d_thumbnail_4096_12c0b0fa-083f-47a4-a20d-e48c4e18dfa7.jpg?v=1726272681","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/low-life.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}