Flynndie Reviews: #45 Howler - World of Joy

Written 26th March 2014:

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

Flynndie Reviews - Blog #22: Howler - America Give Up

Written 16th January 2012:

Howler – America Give Up

The Band: Jordan Gatesmith (vocals, guitar), Max Petrek (keyboards), Brent Mayes (drums), Ian Nygaard (guitar).

So for today’s review, regular readers may notice I previously gave a taster of today’s band, Howler, recently when I previously reviewed their debut release the ‘This One’s Different EP’ back in mid-November in Blog #19. As I stated in that piece I very much fell for the band’s garage-rock, surfer-style EP instantly and have regularly been giving the EP a spin since its release last August and in doing so had built myself up high-expectations for the release of their full-debut album and today’s review subject ‘America Give Up’. I won’t cover too much on the band’s background as I previously did this in the Blog #19 for the ‘This One’s Different EP’, so let’s dive right-in and see how ‘America Give Up’ sounds:

Running Order

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

Kicking off with a nice ‘beach-party’ guitar-riff, one that those that have heard ‘This One’s Different’ will be initially surprised that things are off to a slow start here, however, that soon quickly changes 30 seconds into the track, as the fast, frantic garage-rock that appeared on their debut EP crashes in on the album at 100mph, like a 20ft wave on the beaches of California with opening track ‘Beach Sluts’. The track is an early indication of the ‘surfer-type-vibe' that the band creates with their sound throughout the record. ‘Back to the Grave’ slows things down after the frantic opener, but has a very, deep bellowing sound to it courtesy of thunderous drumming from Brent Mayes and Jordan singing in a more deep voice on this track in particular. The track features a nice rocky-riff after each verse and overall complements the opening track very well on the album. Track 3 ‘This One’s Different’ as previously mentioned was the title track of the band’s debut EP, and quite rightly so in my opinion, as it’s one of the standout tracks on the album with its fast, catchy garage-rock sound, one of which I previously compared to sounding like early material by The Strokes but only if they had been up taking illicit substances through the night! This is probably the first most ‘instant’ track on the album for me and certainly a type of sound the band captures so well.

Next up we have ‘America’ and much like 2nd-track ‘Back to the Grave’ the band opt for another more ‘relaxed’ rock track here while still maintaining a very unique sound for it with the type of echo effect used on Jordan’s voice here and the simple, relaxed backing guitar riff used throughout the song to nice effect. ‘Too Much Blood’ casually turns up next on the record, with a slowed down electric guitar hand-holding Jordan’s vocals on this track and haunting-like guitars turning up in the middle of the song too, this is probably the most ‘menacing’ sounding track on album, which is generally fast-paced and upbeat throughout, though it’s reassuring to know that the band has these type of tracks in their locker also.

Things get a lot more upbeat and bouncy with the track ‘Wailing (Making Out)’, which was previously titled the excellent ‘You like White Women I like Cigarettes’ on their debut EP, though I’m guessing the band may have been requested to change this title for the album’s release hence new title ‘Wailing (Making Out)’. With a melody throughout the track that smacks of college students having a blast at a beach-party, this is again another more instant track on the record and really lives up to the surfer-vibe of the record as previously mentioned earlier. I can understand more why the title of the track was changed as lead-singed Jordon belts out towards the end of the track “I’m so tired of making out!” and this is another real standout track on the record for me. Track 7 ‘Pythagorean Fearem’ one of the more unusually titled tracks on the album, alludes more to the darker, menacing sound the band are capable of creating, with early parts of the verse reminding my very much of the sound the band ‘80’s Matchbox B-Line Disaster’ were famed for, which is by no means a bad thing at all.

‘Told You Once’ is the 3rd and final track, that originally appeared on the bands debut EP and is another excellent track, with a more mellow feel to it and a backing acoustic guitar throughout. The band re-creates a sound that is usually found in movies of an easy-going 60’s Diner in my opinion despite somewhat downbeat lyrics “I wish there was something that I could do/Cause I hate myself more than I hate you” suggesting that the song implies a strain on couple’s relationship but this song has anything but a downbeat vibe about it and it is more likely you would just get caught up in the easy-flowing rhythm and sound of the track. Again it features, like many tracks on the album, simple yet catchy lyrics that you will soon find yourself singing along to without realising it (or maybe that is just me!)

‘Back of your Neck’ swoons along into the latter part of the album, with a nice opening guitar riff, and is possibly the most ‘surfer-vibe’ sounding and laidback track on the album overall and although I’ve used that comparison a lot throughout this review, it is more of a complement to the band’s unique sound on this record rather than a criticism. ‘Free Drunk’ starts with the screech of guitar distortion, before jugging away as a guitar track that coasts along and fills the album nicely but is arguably perhaps the ‘weaker’ track of an overall strong album. And so our fast-paced, fun journey through the band’s debut album brings us to closing track ‘Black Lagoon’ and in my opinion it’s a cracker! Another, frantic guitar track played at rip-roaring pace, with a really catchy bridge and a proper 60’s guitar-riff throughout the 2nd verse of the track, it’s a great fun track to close what is overall a fun and enjoyable debut album from these 4 young lads from Minneapolis that should be enjoyed for the light-hearted romp of a record that it is!

So, overall I think this album is a great a debut effort from Howler. I had really high hopes for the record after the obscenely, excessive amount of plays I had previously given their debut EP ‘This One’s Different’. The album overall lives up to my high expectations, although I felt it was a shame that they left off the opening track ‘For All Concern’ from their debut EP, as I always thought it was an amazing opening track. I also personally preferred the vocals used on the EP version of ‘This One’s Different’ however the vocals used here still don’t stop the track itself from being anything other than great and both of these points are minor criticisms. I think this is a great album for the band to introduce themselves to the UK Indie scene and I’m sure fans of bands like The Strokes, The Vaccines and even to an extent The Libertines will really like the record that Howler have brought to the table here and I’m going to award this album a very strong 8 Howls out of 10. Even if you didn’t hear the debut EP I’d still recommend give this album a go and would certainly recommend trying to catch the band play ‘live’ in the UK over the next few months while they are still playing smaller venues as I can only see bigger things coming up for Howler going forward into 2012!

Never Giving Up ‘Flynny’

Track 3 ‘This One’s Different’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b7SlJfgpnM

Track 8 I Told You Once’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKkcBb4EFQs