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Apr 13, 2011As long as the Low Anthem discount the idea that this music was once meant to stir the blood, rile the soul, and actually be exciting, it's always going to be historically inaccurate in a way no amount of sepia-toned ambience can overcome.
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Under The RadarMar 23, 2011As an album, there's little holding Smart Flesh together. [Feb. 2011, p. 72]
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Mar 11, 2011While it shares many similarities with the quieter side of their first record, it never quite achieves the same heart-rending beauty we know they're capable of.
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Mar 1, 2011Set your sights high, by all means, but when each track sounds like an attempt to emulate a specific great (Bruce, Bob, Leonard, the Band etc) the confused listener can't help but be left thinking "Will the real Low Anthem please stand up?"
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Feb 23, 2011At heart this is a dustily traditional collection of folk songs, their straightforward rhythms and plain instrumentation intermittently embellished with musical saw and pump organ, their lyrics of loss, redemption and death occasionally startling, with such vivid imagery as that of a Bible in a bath of formaldehyde.
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Feb 22, 2011The problem here is that all these competing styles result in a bit of a lack in a distinctive voice for the band.
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Feb 22, 2011Americana and modern folk are often dismissed for their dour self-seriousness, and Smart Flesh, unfortunately, falls into the worst of those trappings.
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Feb 22, 2011As part of a longer discography, Smart Flesh will probably stand as a good, solid point in The Low Anthem's career, a sign of the band developing their sound and their songwriting before delivering something truly special.