This trio from Duluth, Minnesota, plays at such a sluggish, hypnotic pace that it makes the slow-core pioneers in Codeine seem like German speed-metallers by comparison. Throughout I Could Live in Hope, the band's debut release for Vernon Yard Recordings, guitarist Alan Sparhawk, bassist John Nichols and percussionist Mimi Parker perform somnambulant numbers such as "Lullaby" (it is), "Lazy" (they are), "Down" and "Drag" (are you seeing a pattern here?) with all the dreamy forcefulness of Julee Cruise on elephant tranquilizers. By the time the album's closing number--a cool, melancholy rendition of "Sunshine"--oozes its way through the speakers, not even a popcorn box filled with Vivarin will be able to wrest you from your lethargic trance. And yet, for some reason, the album works. This spare flutter of a record may not be intense enough for fans of, say, Green Day, but for those of us who can appreciate the simpler (and slower) things in life, Hope is an unbeatable high.

by Brad Jones

I Could Live in Hope on Amazon.com