Written 26th March 2014:
Howler – World of Joy
Howler – World of Joy
The Band: Jordan Gatesmith (vocals, guitar), Ian Nygaard (guitar), Max Petrek (bass, keyboards),
Rory MacMurdo (drums)
So today’s review sees the long-awaited return of US Minneapolis-based
4-piece Howler who are finally making their return after seemingly falling off
the face of the planet since releasing their enjoyable, surfer and
slasher-based style of garage-rock with 2012 debut album ‘America Give Up’
(previously reviewed in Flynndie Reviews #22).
Now suddenly seemingly out of nowhere the band are returning on the
Rough Trade label, with this ‘World of Joy’ out this week but has the long break done the
young-upstarts a ‘world of good’ or created a ‘world of pain’ with this their
second full album?
World of Joy
1. Al’s
Corral
2. Drip 3. Don’t Wanna
4. Yacht Boys
5. In the Red
6. World of Joy
7. Louise
8. Here’s The Itch That Creeps Through My Skull
9. Indictment
10. Aphorismic Wasteland Blues
Opening with the fuzzy, upbeat and rocky guitar
rhythm of ‘Al’s Corral’ this track sees Howler return to their light-hearted
but distinct garage-rock style which was a major feature of their debut album
while Jordan teases with lines “I won’t
say yes but I might say maaaay-be/If I drink and I ask around/It’s the only
place for me”. It’s a fun, energetic
opener with a nice hint of Thin Lizzy underlying the track and gets the record
of to a fine start. ‘Drip’ is another
full-on garage-rock number, featuring plenty of layers of guitar distortion
used throughout, with a staple guitar-rhythm that ‘Up the Bracket’ by The
Libertines was built on and a raucous Ramones-esque repeated chorus “Drip/Drip/Put him on a drip”.
Meanwhile third-track ‘Don’t Wanna’ is a real
standout and somewhat calms the pace of the album with some dreamy but still
upbeat, semi-acoustic guitar-pop featuring some of my favourite lines on the
album “You don’t have to be anyone if you
don’t want to…You don’t have to listen to The Smiths if you don’t want to”, which ironically, or perhaps more so
intentionally, is followed with a delightful, jangly Smiths-like guitar
solo. For the record I would actually
highly recommend going back and listening to the full The Smiths back-catalogue
and certainly feel that actually this third track is the band’s nod of approval
to the legendary Manchester band. ‘Yacht
Boys’ opens with a haunting, western guitar-solo backed by an 100mph
guitar-riff and even faster drums from new band member Rory. Another no-nonsense, raucous garage-rock
track with an underlying menace to it, this is what The Strokes would sound like
on acid, and also reminds me of forgotten psychedelic rockers 80’s Matchbox
B-Line Disaster.
‘In the Red’ follows next and is another rocky,
upbeat affair and smacks of rhythms of The Clash and The Ramones with a dreamy
chorus “No I won’t do you no wrong/No I
won’t do you any harm”, it’s another good fun, surfer-rock track and really
shows how tight the band are playing here. Title-track ‘World of Joy’ is a much
more, slower and menacing affair, as guitars and a groovy bass-line chug away
at the track like a runaway train, while Jordan’s voice has an effect used on
it on this track making it his voice much softer and understated and despite
being the title-track, this is a much more different sound from the band than
previously and perhaps the darkest track on the album so far. ‘Louise’ is another much more upbeat and
incredibly catchy tune; again with Libertines\Strokes sounding guitars racing
through its veins while Jordan croons about the song’s protagonist “Louise/Oh Please/I wanna tell you I love
you/But I know it’s not enough!” It’s
an urgent and very instant track. Not
only is ‘Here’s the Itch that Creeps Through My Skull’ a barmy but brilliant track-title,
but for me it’s another stand-out track on the record, with a dreamy, jangly
guitar-riff at the heart of it. Another
track that’s sound again shows more than a subtle nod to The Smiths and again shows
more great range on display on this album from these four young shit-kickin’
upstarts from Minnapolis.
Initially percussion-driven with some hollering
and wooo’s thrown-in ‘Indictment’ has a true US-college vibe about it, the perfect
companion soundtrack for burning away and heading out on a long road-trip, with
guitars and bass duelling right away before mid-way through the track, the song’s
drops down a few gears “Well help me
Jesus, right here on my search/I know I swear to you, I never burned down no
church”, it’s another fun track with its tongue firmly placed in cheek. Closing track ‘Aphorismic Wasteland Blues’
has a very retro, somewhat Beach Boys sounding vibe about it, bluesy, jolly and
carefree it effortlessly closes the album all the time while showing off the
cheeky-charm and talent of what Howler are all about.
So after seemingly disappearing of the face of
the planet, Howler have actually gone away, honed their sound even more and
delivered in my opinion a quality second album.
I always thought these young lads showed a lot of potential back in late
2011 with their ‘This One’s Different EP’ (also reviewed in Flynndie Reviews #19) and their early 2012 debut album ‘Amercia Give Up’ but I have to say I’ve listened
to ‘World of Joy’ a few times now and am started to think this album is really
starting to show these youngsters live up to their full
potential. You can see many rock ‘n’
roll influences with this record, ranging from the obvious Ramones, The Smiths
and The Strokes, particularly with Jordan’s “don’t give a fuck, drawling vocals”
drawing a similar comparison to early Julian Casablancas, but also to the more
subtle Thin Lizzy and The Stooges. I
read a quote from lead-singer Jordan that the band’s aim with this record was “supposed
to be almost like a jukebox at some sloppy bar in Minneapolis” and I think they
really nail that sound with this record while giving the band quite a range of
songs and a fun, tight, rocky record which I’ve overall been really impressed
with and am going to award this one 8 “Itch’s Though My Skull” out of 10. If you like stuff like The Libertines and The
Strokes I would seriously recommend checking out this fantastic record.
In the Red
‘Flynny’
Track 3 ‘Don’t Wanna’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50QFJJQGTrs
Track 9 ‘Indictment’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCGMoyF-a8M
