It’s a case of music by numbers for new singer/songwriter Katlow and her debut single, ‘57 Manchester Road’. Comparisons to a young Alex Turner are inevitable, but the observational nature of Low’s song writing appears too literal, and needs a stronger kinetic structure. Low is better when she sings fully, rather than her adopted sing-song-style, the affectedness of which unfortunately lacks authenticity. Statements about youth culture are all well and good, but lyrics like: ‘We met at a wedding, met at work, a Christmas party and a 21st’ won’t fool anyone, musically there needs to be something more meaningful happening to get the kids going. Low sounds better with a drummer behind her, but even here the style feels too studied, and the choruses are too weak to pull it off. Bear in mind that Kat is still young, which goes someway to explaining the replicated feel of her songs; but the necessary indie-pop energy is still lacking- perhaps something that will come through with age.
