IN ten years, Low have evolved from playing sad songs as quietly and slowly as possible to playing even sadder songs not quite so quietly and slowly.

Now, in a move akin to Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnell turning his amp up to 11, the melancholic, minimalist trio from Duluth, Minnesota have gone and made a rock record. Enter the great destroyer of the title, Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev producer Dave Fridmann, to add industrial dirt and noise and psychedelic colour without spoiling Low's trademark subtlety and whispered harmonies. Sudden sunshine suits them. Where Low have broadened over seven studio albums, Luna have remained steadfast and true, forever re-applying the sardonic and woozy Velvet Underground template since 1991, when Dean Wareham first crafted their benign, even lazy, sound after shutting down Galaxie 500. Sadly, Rendezvous is to be their last will and testament; Wareham says rock and rolling is killing his life. You would not sense that turmoil: Cindy Tastes Of Barbecue, Buffalo Boots and a playful adaptation of The Owl And The Pussycat are lovely and warm reveries on a graceful swansong.

Updated: 08:50 Thursday, February 03, 2005