top of page
LSHF.6.jpg
  • Black Facebook Icon
  • Black Instagram Icon

Low Standards, High Fives

LOW STANDARDS HIGH FIVES are a three-guitar indie rock band from Turin, Italy. They drew inspiration for their recent full-length album 'Are we doing the best we can?' from the still vital catalogue of 90’s/00’s emo acts like Mineral, American Football, Appleseed Cast and The Promise Ring, and you can easily hear them kindle that same nostalgic feeling throughout.

With 'Are We Doing the Best We Can?' the quintet deliver a touching, subtle, yet dynamic and spirited work that will go down well with lovers of Sunny Day Real Estate, The Promise Ring, Braid, Penfold, American Football, The Moirai, Pop Unknown and The Appleseed Cast. The raucous post-punk guitar assaults are infused with an inescapable melodic sensibility.

 

Recorded live and mixed by Mànuel Volpe at Spazio Rubedo in Torino, mastered by saffmastering.com in Chicago, 'Are We Doing the Best We Can?' by LOW STANDARDS HIGH FIVES is out now on Engineer Records, bandcamp and spotify with cover artwork by Carlo Di Stefano of wakeuproad.com.

Since the album LSHF have been back to the studio to record a new 12" vinyl EP entitled 'How Personality Works', with four songs about growing up, bleeding noses, loss, the end of the world as we know it... and the guts we need to still believe. 

In all these years they collaborated with artists such as Garrett Klahn (Texas is The Reason, Solea) and opened stages for the likes of Ratboys, Foxing, Fine Before You Came, Dowsing, Gender Roles, The Penske File, Karl Larsson (Last Days of April) and many more. They have released great video singles from both records.


LSHF Official Website: lshf.it

 

Are we doing the best we can? Album tracklist:

1, Bite Me 03:32
2, Silent Decor 04:17
3, Night Seeds 02:19
4, The Twist 04:34
5, Remember Me 02:51
6, Just Like Silence 03:21
7, Slow Dancers In a Rush Hour 04:47
8, Crazy Boy 04:21
9, Distance By Connection 04:56

How personality works EP tracklist:

1, Guts

2, Teens in the fireroom

3, Things we won't say too loud

4, 22.11.55

 

LSHF Video ‘Silent Decor’ https://youtu.be/1orenQ0ffy0
LSHF video ‘Bite me’ https://youtu.be/qMqJSQuyOsc
LSHF video ‘Slow dancers in a rush hour’ https://youtu.be/i1T4PPkV-bU

Releases

Reviews

Thoughts Words Action - LSHF - How Personality Works - https://thoughtswordsaction.com/2020/11/26/lshfhpw/

Low Standards, High Fives are coming back with another brilliant material that will amaze all the admirers of alternative, indie rock, and emo music. This Turin, Italy-based quintet evolves as time passes by, and their previous recordings such as Revolushhh EP, Enough EP, Are We Doing The Best We Can, and Monument Lake House are showcasing how the group gradually built more complex sound during the years. We previously covered their full-length album called Are We Doing The Best We Can, which blew us away with its subtle melancholy, unreserved emotions, and brilliant musicianship. This time, Low Standards, High Fives are going a step further with their orchestrations, and their tendencies with this release are vividly hearable throughout the entire recording.

How Personality Works carries four brand new compositions, performed with the same intentions as their previous recordings, but this material involves more emotive moments, subtle melodies, and marvelous musicianship demonstrated by all the involved musicians. Their predominant melancholic atmosphere is overwhelming the elements of alternative rock. However, it goes nicely with the remaining involvements of indie rock music that unquestionably takes a crucial role in their sound. The echoic ambiance delivered through polyphonous movements completely accommodates the emo aesthetics, which are perhaps the most notable during the entire material. Low Standards, High Fives uplifted their music on a completely new level, and How Personality Works demonstrates inevitable progress through these four compositions.

Guitars are bursting with beautiful arpeggiated chord progressions, submerged into generous dosages of reverb, echo, and delay effects. These effects are mainly responsible for the vibrant melancholic atmospherics, which are perfectly pairing the remaining orchestrations of the group. These illustrious guitar maneuvers are also satisfying the calmy aesthetics though nearly repetitious articulations, mainly hearable at particular compositions. Still, these themes are not overwhelming the stable rhythm section that keeps these thematics perfectly in line. The bass guitar provides thoughtfully arranged basslines that are surrendering loads of addictive low-end tones. These melodies are saturating the beforementioned themes with such ease, but they’re also acting as a compounding element between guitars and excellent drumming performance. The drumming performance grasps the calmy atmosphere through a series of moderate tempos, decorated through gentle accentuations over the cymbals.

Low Standards, High Fives are showcasing a tremendous experience throughout these four compositions that will unquestionably blow away fans of emo, indie rock, post-rock, and alternative music. Their subtle atmospheric but delicate articulations are unmatchable. How Personality Works is coming out soon as a 12″ vinyl record, so you should pay attention and pre-order this indie masterpiece. Head over to Engineer RecordsNo Reason Records, Scatti Vorticosi Records, or Longrail Records for more details about pre-order.

Salad Days Mag - LSHF - How Personality Works - http://www.saladdaysmag.com/low-standards-high-fives-how-personality-works/

Low Standards, High Fives are an atypical group in the national underground music scene, because if you put on any of their songs you don't believe for a moment that they are Italian. And I'm not talking about wannabes ready to ride the midwest emo wave that has been so popular in recent years, but about a group that has learned its lesson and reworked it in its own way, without particular constructs, but letting the their emotions.

 

'How Personality Works ”is the new work of the Turin quintet, initially intended as part of a new album but then reduced to ep for the sad vicissitudes that are gripping the world at the moment. The four pieces that make up this new effort show a group increasingly comfortable with their songwriting that is not afraid to experiment with melodies and sound textures with the intertwining of the three guitars (yes like Iron Maiden, but don't expect rides), emo where it belongs, without jangles and various trappings, and reinforcing the mantra of "kill them with kindness".

 

If we really have to give some coordinates I would say the whole wave that involved Mineral, the very first Jimmy Eat World pre-commercial success and so on, but it would be unfair to LSHF who really put a lot of theirs into their sound. Of course, once the four tracks are finished the question that immediately comes to your head is what an entire album would have been like, but the only real answer is to click the play button or put the needle back at the beginning of the vinyl and religiously resent the ep with the risk to end up in the loop, which in the case of LSHFs is all well and good.

Punkadeka - LSHF - How Personality Works - https://www.punkadeka.it/low-standards-high-fives-nuovo-video/

"Things We Don't Say Too Loud" is the second single from Low Standards, High Fives new EP. 
Entitled "How Personality Works", the EP has been released on all digital channels and on 12-inch vinyl, by Engineer Records (UK/US) together with NoReason records, Scatti Vorticosi, Longrail and Dotto in Italy.

Punktastic - LSHF - Are we doing the best we can? - https://thepickup.punktastic.com/tracks/low-standards-high-fives

LSHF are a 5 piece band from Turin (Italy). 3 guitars are better than 2. Their first LP was released on 31st of March via Engineer Records (UK). If you like old emo stuff like Christie Front Drive, American Football, Mineral, give them a chance.

Salad days Mag - LSHF - Are we doing the best we can? - http://www.saladdaysmag.com/low-standard-high-fives-are-we-doing-the-best-we-can/

All that, in the last period, we absolutely do not need is: stress and haste. Well, the Turin band Low Standard High Fives has succeeded in this sense and in small steps they have come here, finally releasing their first full lenght entitled 'Are We Doing The Best We Can?'.

 

It was released on March 31, 2018, in collaboration with Engineer Records, an English label that collects mostly melodic sounds, neglecting excessively modern notes and still riding the wave of the old and pure emo sound of the late 90s. Nine songs, well structured, very articulated, rich in effects and harmonies, these songs, to which the band arrives after a long adventure that began quite a few years ago, and exactly in 2012. Texas Is The Reason, American Football,Mineral are just some of the key references for these guys from Turin who churn out their first Ep 'Revolushhhh' already a year later, in 2013, up to their second studio work, entitled 'Enough' in 2015, which projects them forward, loaded with the collaboration with Garrett Klahn, voice and front man of the aforementioned Texas Is The Reason, a leading band of American emo. During the same year the line-up changes, great shock: the Low Standard sound is enriched by a third guitar, played by the former guitarist of the punk rock band, out for Noreason Records, Malemute Kid, Luca. His ideas certainly bring a breath of fresh air, giving space to more harmonies, new contrasts between the rhythms now driven by a thick bass and a particular overlapping of melodies,all well-groomed facets of which you can take note by listening to the new album 'Are We Doing The Best We Can?'.

 

Nine songs we said: 'Remember Me' and 'Crazy Boy' had already appeared in the previous Ep, 'Silent Decor' becomes the promotional single, with which the band chooses to open the dance together with a nice video clip directed by Ame Ray, guitarist and singer of the team. Everything was recorded in a single solution, live in the Spazio Rubedo together with Manuel Volpe, before being sent to Chicago, where it is mastered by Carl Saff. This album does not want to be simply melodic, emo, but it still wants to be punk in its biting intent, in the screams, in the rolls, and also a lot of indie rock, in its melodic movements, in its continuous style changes. A mature record that wants to be heard,and will be heard great.

Indieotecque - LSHF  -Are we doing the best we can? - https://www.indieoteque.com/2018/07/11/low-standards-high-fives-are-we-doing-the-best-we-can-2018-engineer-records/amp/

Turin-based training active since 2012 under the name of Low Standards, High Fives . The five guys don't have a genre of reference but play everything for passion, and above all without worrying about being commercially tractable. The band officially debuts on the market the following year 2013 with the Ep "Revolushhhh", released for Flyng Kids, then in 2015 comes the second work "Enough" which sees the precious collaboration of Garrett Klahn , voice of Texas is The Reason . 2018 will be the year in which the band will release their third album “Are We Doing The Best We Can?” For Engineer Records.

Nine songs, with an original and unique flavor, where there is a skilful alternation between melodic and aggressive without ever accelerating the rhythm but trying to remain as much as possible in soft mode "Bite Me", "Silent Decor". 


The band intensifies the rhythm by increasing the level of grit thanks also to the rough guitars that support a strong vocal line, without giving up clean grafts "Night Seeds", "The Twist" . A decisive change of course with the track "Just Like Silence" where energy and wickedness make room in an overwhelming way, further enhancing the instruments that become more adrenaline than usual compared to what we have heard so far.
the last part of this album sees a fluctuating trend where with "Slow Dancers In A Rush Hour" we return to the old Saints with clean ballads and a light flavor, and then intensify the rhythm with "Crazy Boy" a pleasantly bad track. The album ends with “Distance By Connection” , once again a light, simple and direct solution, where the guitars alternate with open and clear sounds with rougher sounds, confirming the fluctuating trend of this last part.

Overall "Are We Doing The Best We Can?" is a dynamic, full-bodied and full of interesting ideas, suitable for an audience that is constantly looking for fresh and original music.

bottom of page