All right, all right. This album is dated 2005 and the band is no longer together. And I've actually been listening to mixes of the thing for three years.As you may have figured out, I have no qualms about any of this. Low Rises is an excellent album by one of my all-time favorite local (Boston) bands.
If you don't know Baby Ray, think an XTC/Guided by Voices 2-guitar attack with a great rhythm section. Primary songwriters and guitarists Eric Groat and Ken Lafler switch off on vocals as well.
It's a shame that the band broke up after Low Rises -- as much as I loved Monkeypuzzle, Do I Love America and Demonstration, I think this album is their best. The whole album is a nice combination of their pop melodic sense with complex arrangements. My personal highlights include "Superbitch," "The Idiots are Out," "Red Flags," "Rocket-O," "I Look, There You Are," "You Could Go to College" -- who am I kidding, except for one song, the whole album is absolutely great.
I'd encourage you to check them out: here is where you should buy the album. This band is not going gold from sales anytime soon, so just suck it up and get the damn thing. It'll make Ken happy and help put his kid through college.
Merch rating: My commemorative T-shirt and mug combination is apparently on back-order, although the action figures just came in yesterday. I'd obviously go see them if they ever played again. And of course if I didn't already own the album, I'd be buying it here.
CD Placement rating: This goes into the Portable CD Case, but it has spent time in the past in the Car CD changer. So go buy it already!
