ALBUM REVIEW: Alan Sparhawk – With Trampled By Turtles

Sub Pop

Released: 30.05.25

“When you flew out the window and into the sunset, I thought I would never stop screaming / I thought I would never stop screaming your name.” The lyrics of Screaming Song linger in the air and stick in the throat. It is the fifth track from the album Alan Sparkhawk – With Trampled by Turtles, a collaboration between the guitarist and co-lead vocalist of legendary slowcore masters Low and the progressive bluegrass band Trampled By Turtles from Minnesota..

When Sparhawk’s wife and bandmate Mimi Parker passed away in 2022, he found some solace in his friends, fellow Dulth, Minnesota musicians Trampled By Turtles who invited him to join them on tour. Out of this nurturing and healing environment came, over time, a new bunch of songs Sparkhawk was looking to develop. Some of them leftover from Low sessions that had yet to come to fruition and others that were brand new. An impromptu recording session between friends resulted in With Trampled by Turtles, with the majority of the record completed in a single day.

The nine songs are packed with trademark Low minimalism and organic and natural beauty, counteracted with sharp and ugly textures. Most tracks are fleshed out with melodic bluegrass and Americana and some gorgeous vocal harmonies. Its more silky moments of smooth melody are accompanied by equally sleek banjo and mandolin whereas the more chaotic, piercing moments are mirrored intensely by wailing and shrieking fiddle and cello. There is an understated but clear harmony born from familiarity and companionship, rounded off nicely with the inclusion of vocals from Sparhawk’s daughter Hollis on Not Broken. With Trampled By Turtles is a testament to grief, healing and the solidarity and strength gained from friends and family.