Low, Spring Heel Jack

A bit of a missing link in Low’s discography, Bombscare has been unavailable for almost two decades, originally released in late 2000 on Tugboat (Glen Johnson’s Rough Trade subsidiary), it’s now been reissued on vinyl by John Coxon and Ashley Wales’ remarkable Treader imprint and provides a bit of context for last year’s roundly acclaimed Double Negative.
It’s mostly about the title track here really, Coxon and Wales’ (aka Spring Heel Jack) provide the sublime, electronic backdrop, offsetting Mimi Parker and Alan Sparhawk’s vocal harmonies and Ed Coxon's strings in a way that, 20 years on, feels woven from the same fabric that made Double Negative so striking, but which at the time felt disconnected from much of what we knew of the band. Listening to it two decades on - it’s a total revalation, and a testament to Spring Heel Jack’s prescience.
The other three tracks are more in line with classic Low - albeit f#cking good, vintage Low - especially the harp-adorned, morose So Easy (So Far) - a real heartstopper, in the vein of Low’s finest, most stoic tearjerkers.