3 out of 5

Label: Famous Class

Produced by: Lower Dens / Horse Lords

Hm, as I often question with splits or 7″s – what should qualify as a “good” single? Should both songs be great; should they be representative of a general sound; or are we allowing that this may be a space for experimentation?

I mean, whatever the case, the tunes should be quality, I’d suppose, and then that’s all pretty subjective.

These tunes do seem to say what each band was about way back when, but if I’m being extra mean and critical – I don’t detect much change in Lower Dens’ style, whereas Horse Lords have evolved quite a bit from this somewhat more basic kraut-y math-y instrumental. But if these tracks fulfill the “representative” aspect in some way, and are not not quality, they also aren’t highlights for either group.

Admittedly, Lower Dens’ twee, new-wave approach is really not to my taste, and because of that, I feel like there are a lot of bands operating in a similar realm. ‘Non grata’ is slick, and I do like the kind of dark and minimalist beat over their later, glossier stuff. It gets my head bobbing, though I just can’t identify anything super definitive or overly-grabbing about it.

Horse Lords’ similarly minimalist instrumental approach is to my taste, but again, this is a pretty raw, limited form of their more complex stuff later on. But you could argue they also effect something of a new-wave inspired aesthetic here, albeit more from that krautrock angle. It is an interesting sound nonetheless, still as uniquely “them” in 2013 as it would be today.