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photosRock Sound - France (Apertures)
"From out of the blue, this San-Franciscan trio signals with "Apertures" its 4th effort since its beginning in 2000. However, we have just discovered them. A nice surprise that reminds us of the noise and post hard-core that was practiced back in the 90's at Amphetamine Reptile and Touch&Go. Big sound. Big slap."
Versus Magazine -France (Apertures)
"Without any concession, Lower Forty-Eight's rock exudes sincerity and combines violence, melody and ambiance. The tortuous tracks don't strike at first listening, but a riff, a break at the right time or a melody, catches the ear now and then and invites you to further attentive hearings. Nothing to do with the current post hard-core, no Neurosis here, but a pinch of Quicksand, of Don Caballero or of Compression. The long tracks often develop some purely instrumental and melodic parts but are always intensely powerful. Bit after bit, the twists of this melancholic, but not whiney, metal catch us, sophisticated but forceful. Never foreseeable in the way it alternates electric devastation and melodic calm, Lower Forty-Eight forges a strong and personal sound that deserves your attention."
8/10
Alternative Nation - Germany (Apertures)
"Lower Forty-Eight play on Apertures exactly the type music that has been for years overdue."
8/10
MusicClub - Italy (Apertures)
"Complex, discordant, angular, oblique, weighing and chaotic, but also dynamic, melodic, organized and progressive. Cerebral and passionate. The best."
De Subjectiviten Caleidoscoop - Netherlands (Apertures)
"[Lower Forty-Eight] demonstrate that heavy music goes together excellently with originality and complexity. Think of the best of Fugazi, Brutal Juice, Dillinger Escape Plan, Biffy Clyro, Jesus Lizard, Chokebore, Isis and Deftones and you get a nice impression of which style this band is. The heavy, full sound may mislead you into thinking that they are more than a trio, but Phil Becker (drums), Andrew Lund (guitar, song) and Grady Mutzel (bass) show that you don't need a lot to make impressive music. Lower Forty-Eight can be been seen here at their best."
Drowned In Sound (Apertures)
"Just the right side of overly (read: unnecessary) complex, Lower Forty-Eight conjure a mightily impressive and intelligent racket that never once becomes too bogged down in its makers' obvious talents. Apertures is the San Francisco outfit's second long-player for Monotreme, and fans of labelmates The Mass will find their bass-heavy riffing absolutely to their tastes. Those longing for a band rather reminiscent of the likes of Braid and Burning Airlines will also discover much to cherish across these ten varied tracks, although the trio seem to have lost some of the aggression that made their previous release, Skin Failure, so immediately gratifying. Apertures burns that bit slower - 'Blaue Augen' is a fine example of the band's current direction, favouring a gradual reveal rather than the guaranteed winning tactic of shock and awe. In summary, this is a record obviously indebted to the (better) efforts of much-missed predecessors, but the players' accomplished performances ensure that not once does it smack of second-rate imitation. Indeed, with just a little more exploration, Lower Forty-Eight could find something truly unique within the narrow confines of post-hardcore."
Rock-A-Rolla (Apertures)
"Hard-hitting post-hardcore with complex structures along the lines of Mars Volta meets Dillinger Escape Plan, The San Francisco trio's third full-length is an aggressive piece of music with just enough melodies to offset the intensity, yet never taking the easy route of descending into any kind of pop nonsense other young bands tend to do. Rather, the album is packed full of explosive tracks that may yet set them apart as one of the leading bands in the genre. Vocalist/guitarist Andy Lund moonlights as bass player with another band taking complex metal to new heights – label mates The Mass – and between the two he may well be the man to watch."
Kerrang! - 15 April 2006 (Apertures)
"Crushing but tender with it, San Francisco trio Lower Forty-Eight sound like they could easily hold their own against any of the early 90's US alt-rock greats or within the current UK hardcore scene. Recalling Amphetamine reptile-style headcases such as Jesus Lizard and the same energy of At The Drive In, songs such as opener 'Mass Denial, Massive Guilt' or the dizzying 'The Distance Of Light' are deceptively complex waves of sound crashing over bottom-end fury but with a rage-filled melody close at hand. It's hard to see how anyone interested in punk rock couldn't be swayed by this glorious clatter."
KKKK - Ben Myers
smother.net - September 2006 (Apertures)
"San Francisco's Lower Forty-Eight grips hard and heavy music with a tightened fist, determined to overtake its more expansive genres by storm. Compelling mathematically serious time signatures are drenched in the sweat of hardcore abrasiveness and proto-punk crazed abandon. Imagine Black Flag with heavier guitars and a desire to write impossible to follow rock tunes. Melodic skull-fracturing choruses that would make Helmet cringe for their nifty use of the distorted guitar; Lower Forty-Eight is a dynamic group that demands that heavy music pay attention."
LOGO Magazine - UK - October 2003 ()
"Though it’s the frenzy surrounding garage rock that’s grabbing the headlines, the stabbing dynamicism of post-rock minted by the likes of Godspeed You! Black Emperor is recruiting members at an equally fast rate, and mutating even quicker. San Francisco’s Lower Forty-Eight are ostensibly the latest additions to the gang, though this, their UK debut, is actually their second album, following their U.S. only ‘Halfback’ released on their own King of Sticks imprint. ‘This is Progress?’ is surely ironic, given its dizzying, aneurysm-inducing guitars and inevitable, exploding drum and vocal attack, but it’s hotwired with searing passion that still manages to deliver a sucker punch to the neck. Derivative? Quite possibly, but undeniably compelling nonetheless."
Cliff Roberts (3.5/5)
Aardschok Magazine - The Netherlands - November 2003 ()
"this band combines the best of alternative guitar rock, emo, hardcore and crossover...with production that would make The Ex jealous..."
Raw Nerve - UK ()
"A fantastic bit of atmosphere begins this album from Lower Forty-Eight, and the main segment of "If I dare" kicks in, with some nice off kilter beats, and solid, emotion packed vocals. For those who like their emo early 90's flavoured, then this is definitely your cup of tea awaiting. Forget all the current crop of bands saying they are emotional and heart wrenching, they know nothing. This sound really does capture the proper feeling of Husker Du, Sunny Day Real Estate, Bob Tilton (but not as discordant as the Tilton masters). Short, punchy and to the point, this is a definite good start.
For those that think that Finch are emo, I say listen to "Echolalia" are hear what truly emotional music sounds like. Here the metronomic counting of the rhythms and guitars counting down the last moments of your existence, but with the added bonus of some cool jazz and big riffs ala Mr Bungle later on in the track. Top album."
Scream Magazine - Germany ()
"Increase the treble" has some excellent ideas for riffs, and vocally not too prominent but quite harrowing in its shrieks and calls, this song keeps the thumbs well and truly up and looking for more, something that is delivered throughout the album, with some influence from Mineral, Shellac (definitely noticeable in "A pornstar's afterlife", which is one of the highlights of the album), Slint, Godspeed You Black Emperor (in the just mentioned song, there is a section which repeats on for a long while, with some incredible hypnosis, rhythms and added sounds)."
Bernhard Tischler (5.5/6 ) (English translation kindly provided by the author)
DisAgreement - Luxembourg ()
"Only three days ago, I reached musical heaven with the debut release from The Mass. Today I check out their labelmates Lower Forty-Eight, who are as well an American band on a European label. Both bands share the same sense of non-conformist rhythm structures, but apart from that, L48 have a much different take on music. They reduce music to guitar, bass and drums, and the vocals are raw but never really aiming at the metal genre. Already the opener "If I Dare" shows fantastic potential: the bass guitar is very emancipated (many bands use the four strings only as a rhythmic backbone), the guitar very noisy, and it is with the long "A Pornstar's Afterlife" where you start to understand the band's vision of combining punk and noise with contemporary music of the 20th Century. It is songs like that which had them heavily criticised by some German e-zine, but L48's blend of short punk outbursts with longer epic tracks makes for a very interesting listen. Skin Failure , their second full-length album so far, is rather short with just under 40 minutes, but that also guarantees that there is no time to get bored (although I doubt that such a talented band even knows the meaning of the word "boring")
This is an album which allows to be listened to on many levels: superficially it's noisy alternative rock, but luckily totally inappropriate for mainstream kids. More concentrated ears will notice that in fact there is much happening in the songs, that there is a musical interplay you probably can only get with three musicians at the most, and good musicians they have to be. A very adventurous album which should be checked out by everyone who likes their rock music angular and by people who need to see that there is great weird music beyond Fugazi."
(9/10)
www.alternativenation.de - Germany ()
"Yes. Finally. Tears of gratitude are flowing. Fantastic. Now it is here and may never leave again. Never, because skin failure, the album by this San Francisco trio, had been missing throughout the 90s. And missed it was. Was anticipated. And it holds true to all it promises without trying to reach this exceptional position or indeed abuse it. It moves, somehow detached but at the same time directly involving the listener, lower forty eight takes the strategy to the max that has been formulated at amphetamine-reptile label, through hammerhead, chokebore, helmet, today is the day tar and guzzard. (The concept:) a vast array of shades of grey arisen from magic from the black hole of the emotional abyss. Sound painted with clear-cut outlines, realistic like a photo. Pictures painted in sound that do not simply whiz past but remain and allow the thoughts to linger on the impression created: total consciousness of the mind. With breaks for quietly reflecting on the thoughts and the situations told (in the songs) in calm aversion. Concentrated. Followed by begging, broken, furious and painful cries painted in music. It could even be said that lower fourty eight crossreferences to discords soul-music from the genre-boundaries disregarding Washington hard core scene. Lower forty eight’s skin failure leaves no room for negative criticism. The album constantly keeps you guessing. With its soft-spoken harshness and complexity, composed with clarity and cleverness; however, always somehow withdrawn in itself. Full of anecdotes with unexpected twists and some harsh breaks. Organised chaos, enriched with intermittent short sequences of harmony. To further geographically categorise this album, skin failure is a new interpretation of the finest Chicago ambivalence (chilled)-combos of the late 80s and early 90s, from such bands as slint, bitch magnet, bastro. Eight songs remain, extra tough, moody, (written in stone) guitar-rock, or the most beautiful post-core piece in years or maybe of all time. Unusually multifacetal precision drumming, as opposed to the stereotypical banging. Instead differentiated expression is what forms the framework of this composition. It is more than simply accompanying (to the songs). Don Caballero springs to mind. The accentuating drumming is not only the metric and energetic support as well as the second driving force for the music. In harmony with floating, coarse and scratchy all consuming sounds from the guitar. This goes well with the vocal as well as the all-around bitter-but-compromising roughness, with sweet backgrounds – like the anticipation in karate and the uncompromisingness of shellac. The search for an album that combines the “heaviness” of metal, the complexity of progressive rock and the intensity of punk and hardcore ends here with skin failure, as the “pals” from the British record label put it. Softness make lower forty eight more accessible, however what stays is the lovingly distressing, aggressively demanding dramatic of desperation."
(9/10) (English translation kindly provided by Yella Martin)
www.pitfire.com - Germany ()
"[Lower Forty-Eight] combine precise dynamic, passionate song passages with incredibly powerful exploding guitar parts and perceptive vocals. Tempo changes, breaks and complex rhythms...one can never anticipate exactly what to expect next. GO AND GET IT!!!"
www.dreun.be - Belgium ()
"This trio sounds sweaty and the many tempo changes remind us of mathcore. Very edgy, very pure… ingenious emo/math without the slick production that often makes other bands sound alike. Like good wine: better each time. Give this record a chance, you won't regret it..."
Up Magazine - The Netherlands ()
"Intense and inventive rock" (78/100)"
www.smashmag.com - Germany ()
"A damn cool CD!"
www.sellfish.de - Germany ()
"Anyone who likes complex, angular music with oblique, dark and hard sounds should give this a listen."
www.musikansich.de - Germany 17/20 ()
"This is cutting edge hardcore."
www.kindamuzik.net - The Netherlands ()
"Persistent listening is rewarded abundantly with dynamics, complex rhythms and maniac vocals breaking loose (think Henry Rollins). Sometimes melodic, sometimes deliberately disharmonious. This album is like whiskey, once you develop a taste for it, you really appreciate it."
Broken Violence ((interview))
"A nice interview with the band, including lots of photos can be found on the German webzine, Brokenviolence."
SplendidZine Sept. 2002 (Halfback)
"You can tell a lot about a band by the covers it chooses, and Lower Forty-Eight goes way out on a limb in this regard. The eighth track on this Bay Area punk trio's excellent HalfBack revisits 19th century modernist Arnold Schoenberg's revolutionary Six Little Piano Pieces, Opus 19. The Rough Guide to Classical Music explains that this piece "rejects all motivic development in favour of a reliance upon tonal colour and vertical relationships between the notes, proceeding through clusters of tones that obey no other logic than Schoenberg's intuitive sense of what works." Got that? Good, because if you splice in a few more adjectives -- like blisteringly loud, electric and political -- that quote would go a long way toward explaining HalfBack. The key is that Lower Forty-Eight builds tracks on riffs that don't really seem like riffs at all. They are angular collections of notes and rhythms that make sense only after prolonged repetition. Big interval jumps, dead stops and frequent tempo changes break the cuts into jagged pieces. Hoarsely shouted lyrics underline a pulsating anger. Those all sound like negatives, but in fact the disc is very, very good. Almost all of the tracks are undeniably powerful, but in a way that seems constantly unexpected and left of center.
The band is incredibly tight, shifting moods and intensity levels with single-minded precision. Ian Mills Swanke's moody, turbulent bass provides the underpinning for Andrew Jason Lund's glass-shattering attack guitar. Drummer Phil Becker holds the whole evolving, changing experience together, charging into the heavy parts and stepping back on the lighter ones. Standout tracks include opener "The Eternal Internal Implements of Destruction", "In the Shadow of the Emancipator" and "The Great Landfill in the Sky".
What would Schoenberg say? I'd like to think he'd see the connection, but maybe not. In any case, if you're into intelligent, challenging, hard-driving punk, HalfBack is more than worth a listen."
Bay Area Buzz July 2002 (Halfback)
"It never ceases to amaze me when someone can play intricate melodies and sing at the same time. While the guitarist bounces back and forth between angry screaming and a melodic plead over the top of distorted chords, the bassist utilizes the low-end clarity of a Sunn cabinet to punch through and really hold onto the song, but has a few sweet, subtle walking fills (see the instrumental "Shane Dank" where his touch really sets the tone). Their talented drummer, though, is the driving force and catalyst throughout this album; the countless engineered stops and changes couldn't have been pulled off without his range. One warning the use of digital loops to build layers of guitars in the breakdowns (which is a bit like Don Cabellero, especially on 'To Be So Lucky') may take a couple of listens to warm up to. Be patient they sometimes set up a lot of layers but always find a way to bust out, making it well worth the wait. One song I can't get out of my head is 'In the Shadow of the Great Emancipator' four bars of blasting chords, muted opens, and loud vocals followed by four bars played with a light touch and distorted (megaphone?) vocals, like Megadeth trading fours with Tom Waits. What follows is a driving song with more parts than I can count without taking off my shoes and shorts. This is a fantastic and sincere effort from a local band, all over the map in style and well arranged."