Howler - America Give Up

Subjection to British rock media would leave one under the impression that the search for rock music is a difficult venture, but across the pond they're virtually churned out on a production line. Quite why anyone would want yet another rawk band is beyond me - but the latest new candidates are Howler. The Minnesotan fivesome lie somewhere comfortably between garage, grunge and surf rock and whilst those aren't necessarily new genres for us to play with, a band's debut is always going to have a handful of well-written songs, right?

Well, kinda.


Because America Give Up begins with the almost-painfully slow and dreary 'Beach Sluts', which just feels like a recording studio brainwave that went "let's give it a naughty name and just hammer home the riffs in the chorus". Lyrically, musically and thematically it's so unoriginal that it almost throws their debut into jeopardy - and this isn't helped by the run-of-the-mill 'Back to the Grave', a kinda Dandy Warhols filler track that has a couple of nice riffs in its chorus but otherwise is wholly unremarkable. Calling a track 'This One's Different' is also a bit of a risk when it...really isn't. Energetic as it is, Jordan Gatesmith's vocals can't help but remind me of someone else's and the annoyance behind not being able to remember who is distracting me from the rest of the (admittedly safe and solid) track.

They pick up the pace, though, with 'America'. The riffs are quirkier, janglier and ultimately nicer - but it just feels like they finally click as a collective sound on this track. Gatesmith's vocals aren't too Ian Curtis-inspired, and a genuine sense of enthusiasm is finally felt. 'Too Much Blood', too, boasts greater songwriting - a prolonged distorted screech throughout giving it some grit and nice sounds. They borrow from a long line of indie riffs on 'Wailing (Making Out)' that reminds me a little of The Vaccines' Do You Wanna? - which isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact it's rather good. Just... a nagging sense of deja vu. An interesting title, 'Pythagorean Fearem' would've slotted firmly into the Arctic Monkeys' latest release, which I liked but quickly forgot about.

Howler then opt for the softly-softly approach on 'Told You Once', a happy and smiley little track that's pretty much the mould for "quite nice indiepop track". Their single 'Back of Your Neck' is appropriately carefree and catchy, with its high-pitched chorus vocals and classic rock-and-roll rhythm. 'Free Drunk' posits the band in barely-legible drawl mode for a bit of a filler, before 'Black Lagoon' rounds things off with the album's most fun and frenzied strokes.


It's quite difficult to excited about another kinda-good debut rock record and that's essentially why I'm not. For some, this'll be a seminal 2012 album and that's okay, because it's better than investing your adulation in Nicki Minaj or Marcus Collins, but for me this is as safe and predictable as indie-rock gets. I'm quite unsure why I'm giving it such a high score - but I'll put it down to goodwill.

Rating: 7/10
Highlights: Black Lagoon, Back of Your Neck, Wailing (Making Out), Too Much Blood, Told You Once
Avoid: Beach Sluts, Free Drunk

Artwork Watch: Looks more like the logo for a new (admittedly xenophobic) game show from Dave.
For fans of: Tribes, The Vaccines, Kings of Leon