Secret Names

When singer-drummer Mimi (pronounced "Mimmy") Parker and singer-guitarist Alan Sparhawk met in the fourth grade, they were two farm kids sharing a classroom in the town of Clearbrook, Minn. (population: 600). They became sweethearts in high school, bonding over Hüsker Dü. In 1993, they formed the slow, minimalist pop trio Low in the slow, minimalist port town of Duluth, Minn., where they went to college together. Now married, they still live in Duluth, and longtime bassist (and comic book artist) Zak Sally makes the commute from Minneapolis to practice. In recent years, Low have toured with Radiohead, collaborated with Spring Heel Jack, and soundtracked a Gap commercial, finding an increasingly international audience along the way. But they remain engaged in the local scene, headlining the recent Green Man festival, where they played songs from their forthcoming eighth studio album against a backdrop of distant factory lights and the darkness of Lake Superior beyond. Last month, the band released A Lifetime of Temporary Relief: 10 Years of B-Sides & Rarities, a three-disc box set, on their own Chairkicker label. Sparkhawk and Parker have a daughter and a son: Hollis Mae, who is 4; and George Cyrus, who was born June 5 and goes by his middle name. (Sparhawk's first name is also George; his alter ego in the Duluth blues-punk band the Black-Eyed Snakes is "Chicken Bone George.") Both siblings were on hand for this jury, which took place on the evening of July 2 in the family's dining room. The "Scott" mentioned here is Scott "Starfire" Lunt, a Duluth music activist and country singer who is also Low's nanny.

Elvis Presley: "Blue Moon" (1954) from The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50's Masters (RCA)

Alan Sparhawk: Well, it's not Elvis. It's someone else.

Zak Sally: No, this is Elvis. Remember when I played you this? The guitar doesn't sound like a guitar. It sounds like a Casiotone.

Mimi Parker: It doesn't sound like Elvis, does it?

Sally: Listen to what he does here. [Elvis starts singing falsetto.]

Parker: Sounds more like Tiny Tim riding a horse.

Seattle Weekly: It's from The Complete 50's Masters.

Sally: I bought this after we read that two-volume [Peter] Guralnick thing. I read it, Scott [Lunt] read it. I thought it was one of the greatest bio­graphies I've ever read in my life, and it made me love Elvis even more than I did before.

SW: Were you an Elvis fan before you read it?

Sally: I was an Elvis fan after the three of us went to Graceland.

Parker: I've always been an Elvis fan. You kind of can't not be.

Sally: At first I thought this was Ennio Morricone.

Sparhawk: Or a Suicide bootleg. I'm serious.

Bo Diddley: "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" (1962) from Bo's Blues (Ace/MCA)

Sparhawk: His diction is too good to be Bo Diddley. Is it Bo Diddley?

SW: Yep.

Sparhawk: I'll have to check this; I think it was on Ed Sullivan. But on one of those early TV variety shows, Bo Diddley was the first black performer. I've seen the footage, and it's ridiculous. It's just distorted as anything. It was before they'd really had a lot of experience with live bands on TV. And here's a guy who comes on, and they were playing on the show like they do at gigs, which was just, like, "Turn it up."

Sally: They had to get everyone to hear it.

Parker: Yeah.

Sparhawk: When they'd go in to record, they'd turn everything down. But when they would play gigs, it was just, like, crank that sucker up as loud as it'll go. And it sounded like Sabbath. To this day, that was the best band ever on TV. Before they knew how to do it. It was amazing. Because his amps were just ripping, and he's just screaming. And there's that guy doing the maracas in a suit.

Beat Happening: "Other Side" (1989) from Black Candy (K)

Sparhawk: Beat Happening.

SW: I love how it slows down for a second.

Sally: For a second? [Everyone laughs.]

Sparhawk: [Beat Happening singer] Calvin [Johnson] played in Duluth the other week.

Sally: Calvin's a genius.

SW: This seems like good kids' music. Does Hollis like anything in particular?

Parker: Hollis likes pop songs.

Sparhawk: She likes edgy pop songs.

Sally: My goddaughter, when she was a little bit younger than Hollis, I decided, as a godfather, that we were going to have a song. I'd go over and we'd dance to it. And it was the one we were going to cover. "Mustang" from Black Candy.

Sparhawk: I was playing Photek or some drum and bass thing like that in the car. And I was like, "What do you think of this stuff, Hollis?" And she's like, "Dad, I don't like cool. I like beautiful." That'll be the title of our 20-year box set.

Parker: When I was going to buy her a jean jacket at Target, I said, "Here, Hollis, try this on." "Nah, it's too cool." All right. You can't argue with that. [Everyone sings along to the song.]

Sally: Sometimes I wish we had enough guts to just get up and do everything a cappella. Without any microphone or PA and all that.