LOW VS DIAMOND

Click above to watch Low vs Diamond's Lucas Field and Anthony Polcino perform "Heart Attack" live

Few young american bands attempt the unabashedly grand cinematic rock that L.A.'s Low Vs Diamond play on their eponymous debut — and frontman Lucas Field sees that as an opportunity. "I felt like there was a hole in American anthems," says Field, 28. "British bands do this big, melodic stuff so well, but I couldn't think of an American band that was just going for it. The Killers do it pretty well, but they had this Eighties thing. I was just like, 'What about classic songwriting?' "

The first two members, Field and drummer Howie Diamond, met at the University of Colorado, where they formed a jammy cover band. "We played house parties for all these trustafarians dancing on the lawn," says Field. "We'd play, like, a four- or five-song set with a few Phish covers, a few Dead covers."

Eventually, the pair dropped the jam thing and moved to L.A., where they went through multiple sounds — in 2004, they released a proggy, synth-heavy EP under the name Colored Shadows, which reflected Field's then-obsession with Air. "It took me five years to realize that sitting down at a piano and writing songs the way I do now is what I'm good at," says Field.

The band took its final shape — and final name — after a college friend, guitarist Ben Pollock, left the group in 2006, ending a battle for musical control. There were some hard feelings; the band grabbed the "Low" part of its name from a nickname for Pollock's girlfriend, who clashed with Diamond. (Pollock and his girlfriend, Leyla "Lo" Safai, are currently seeing their own success as the electro-punk duo Heartsrevolution.)

After Low Vs Diamond settled on a direction, the songs — and a contract with Epic Records — came quickly, with Field writing in what he calls a "melodramatic and nostalgic" style that evokes U2 and Coldplay. Their best song, the slow-building "Don't Forget Sister" — which borrows its chord progression from "Baba O'Riley" — was the last Field wrote for the album. "It's the culmination of our sound," says Field. "It's epic." It also poses a challenge. After playing "Don't Forget Sister" at a recent New York gig, Field looked at the cheering crowd, shook his head and said, "How do you follow that?" BRIAN HIATT

HOME BASE Los Angeles

FOR FANS OF Echo and the Bunnymen, U2, Interpol, Coldplay

SPIN THIS "Don't Forget Sister," a cautionary tale with a chest-pounding chorus, is a powerful, Bono-worthy slice of big-sky rock.

Photograph by Theo Wenner

Next: Laura Izibor

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