Ever since the Atlanta duo of songwriters Olivia Osby and Avsha Weinberg began Lowertown, they’ve stayed true to themselves. They’ve sculpted their suburban, melancholic bedroom pop into the shape of story-driven indie rock and folk – think early Alex G, or Bleeds–era Wednesday. In the beginning, Lowertown weren’t too different from Alex G; their earliest music, recorded entirely by themselves, all happened in Weinberg’s basement.
Likenesses can be drawn, but Osby and Weinberg are building their own world peripherally informed by them. So, Lowertown’s recapturing of their DIY sensibility makes Ugly Duckling Union quite delightful. They’ve even downsized their operation by jumping from Dirty Hit to a smaller imprint, Summer Shade. Ridding themselves of external industry pressure, Osby and Weinberg wrote their latest album with a clear mind, strengthening their friendship born out of the utopian internet before its enshittification.
Ugly Duckling Union celebrates the meeting through online, leftfield spaces, which are then moved offline and become real-life communities – like their fans who see them perform live. Perhaps some found their way to Lowertown through the Minecraft server the band created for this record. Whatever the case, Lowertown were fuelled by their wide ambition and landed on their most eclectic release yet. The grungy, self-examining opener “Mice Protection” is a standard Lowertown affair with Osby’s soft-sung voice front and centre, and “Forgive Yourself” is on the grungier side with wailing riffs. However, “Big Thumb” with Weinberg on lead has more to do with Neil Young, while the mythological fingerpicking in “Cover You”, although a little nebulous, is a lovely detour from the band’s usual slacker rock.
The narrative pulse is deliberate: Ugly Duckling Union follows Dale, the ugly duckling depicted in the artwork, who navigates the dystopia surrounding him. Lowertown have said he represents “community”, but this fictitious aspect is easier to follow when taking the lyrics as lived anecdotes. The alt-country stomper “I Like You a Lot” speaks to a gruelling lovesickness we’ve felt at least once, and the theatrical “DIPSH*T” with a lagging bass groove punches down on an ex so unbearable that they drove you to a breakdown. Yet Osby and Weinberg dueting here, and more so during the record’s gentler moments, display their togetherness – and community by extension – as relief from the looming bad things.
The story arc may be tricky to understand, but the ambition to nurture community, even outside of the music, makes this latest chapter in Lowertown’s story worthwhile. Emotional guitar rock is taken to expected destinations – sullen brooding on “Anything Good Take Blood” and intimate glee on “Some Things Never End” – but their impressive musical chops have never faltered. It’s that they’re creating their art with little stress, and you can hear it; if you’re an artist, wouldn’t it be nice to make yours feeling the same way? That’s what community is for: to be with like-minded folk who’ll pep you up.
