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Track Listings
| 1. Beach Sluts |
| 2. Back to the Grave |
| 3. This One's Different |
| 4. America |
| 5. Too Much Blood |
| 6. Wailing (Making Out) |
| 7. Pythagorean Fearem |
| 8. Told You Once |
| 9. Back of Your Neck |
| 10. Free Drunk |
| 11. Black Lagoon |
Product Description
Product Description
Howler is the brainchild of Jordan Gatesmith. The 19 year old picked up the guitar only 5 years ago, and learned quickly. After being the guitarist for several regionally successful projects, Jordan felt like it was time for his voice to be heard, and wanted to write and sing his own songs. He has always had a natural affinity towards early 60's American rock and pop songs, as well as 80's punk, he makes these influences his own.
Review
Having turned heads with a series of fiery (and fleeting) live shows, frontman Jordan Gatesmith’s crew have wasted little time in realising an album of thoroughly contagious, albeit fairly derivative, Strokes-flavoured gutter-rock. These 11 tracks zip by, dashing from start to finish in a breathtaking 32 minutes.
There may be a paucity of original ideas across this set’s running time, but it will stir within listeners memories of great moments in gutter-rock history. When Gatesmith sings, "I scrape my kneeeeeeees," on America it sounds like Lou Reed has temporarily stolen his microphone. Elsewhere, Back to the Grave’s macabre but fun lyrics – "I want someone to take me out tonight / We’ll go back to the grave before we turn out the lights" – could easily be lifted from a lost Ramones tune.
Scientists have yet to convincingly prove that writing killer song titles automatically enhances your chances of sexual and financial success but, if they do, Howler are in for a sweet future. Another (perchance rotten) peach of a title, alongside Back to the Grave, is the album’s opener: Beach Sluts. Its riffs are reminiscent of The Drums or The Vaccines, but it also has handclaps aplenty, and it’s this palm-on-palm percussion that carries the track towards greatness.
Too Much Blood (another great title) slows down the outfit’s punkier tendencies to hiss and snarl like The Jesus and Mary Chain, while Free Drunk (yet another marvellous moniker) is this debut’s greatest moment. Its chorus melodies might be stolen from Tom Petty, but here we find Gatesmith’s most widescreen and windswept vocal, impressive atop feedback and riffs that feel like dirt underneath your fingernails. Top stuff.
There is one moment of (unintentional?) hilarity on the album: the third song is called This One’s Different, but anyone expecting a panpipe version of Cotton Eye Joe will be disappointed. Instead the song’s riffs paint pictures of whiskey-swillers in leatherjackets, just like every other song here. But what better way to fight off the dull winter?
--Lou Thomas
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Customer Reviews
This was a perfect billing given the similarities between Howler and the Vaccines. Both produce good quality guitar music, some short but well crafted rock songs that can be sung along to.
They have appeared in numerous "hot for 2012" lists and there is no doubt they will be wowing the festival crowds this year. NME gave the album a solid 8/10 and I would not disagree with this.
If you cast your mind back a little further it would not be harsh to compare them to the Strokes but only time will tell whether they are able to produce several top quality albums as well!
"Told you once" is probably the most well know track and it would be fair to say that if you enjoy that this will be a fairly safe purchase for you with several more similar tracks that are likely be released during the course of the year as singles.
They show signs of having the songs, too; 'Back To The Grace' in particular has already become a *vomit* 'indie anthem', and they aren't a one trick pony either - even though this is sonically similar throughout, give it a few listens and the hooks and melodies begin to stand out and differentiate song to song. They also have a great live charisma; Jordan Gatesmith is ridiculously comfortable with a crowd for his tender years, and in between the cool hair and hipster good looks is a band who can truly bring it, with a heavy, powerful sound that can really ramp an audience up.
If they can write the tunes, there's no limit to how big Howler can be. And even if they don't fulfill the potential and fade away into obscurity, they'll always have this record; a concise, aggressive collection defined by teenage attitude.
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