Review – Howler "America Give Up"

“America Give Up”

Artist: Howler

Label: Rough Trade

Last year saw a number of Twin Cities bands breaking through into the indie blogosphere and even the iTunes top-selling charts. The rise of Howler might be the biggest success story of all, but it happened so quickly that many people hardly noticed.

The band was plucked from obscurity by London-based indie heavyweight Rough Trade after only one EP and a few local shows. The quartet’s profile overseas quickly eclipsed their following in the Midwest, after significant blog buzz and profiles in The Guardian and NME, rife with comparisons to The Strokes.

Now, with the release of their first full-length, “America Give Up,” Howler finds itself in the strange position of being overexposed, but also reintroducing themselves to fans in the Midwest, who have caught on to the hype and raised their expectations accordingly.

First, The Strokes comparisons aren’t unfounded. In fact, they seem a little calculated. Howler frontman Jordan Gatesmith does his best imitation of Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas’ fuzzed-out croon throughout the album, and even looks like the Strokes vocalist. Mid-album cut “Wailing (Making Out)” could easily be mistaken for a track off of “Room on Fire.” This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; the part fits Gatesmith well, and the songwriting on “America Give Up” doesn’t sound derivative.

Howler’s sound is a stylistic smash-and-grab of rock history, similar to The Drums and recent tour mates The Vaccines. The four-piece is at their best when they inject a liberal amount of surf-pop jangle into their dirty guitar rock, as they do on the single “Back of Your Neck” or the album’s stunning opener, “Beach Sluts.”

The first four tracks on “America Give Up” slide into each other well and demonstrate what Howler can do within their limited range. When Howler drags the shimmering guitars, “oooh-ahhhs” and handclaps through the mud in just the right way, the results are powerful, and do well to meet the expectations that have been foisted upon them.

Unfortunately, the drowsy “Too Much Blood” stops this progress cold and leads into a more uneven second half. EP holdover “Told You Once” falls flat with cleaner sound that put too much focus on Gatesmith’s uninteresting lyrics, but Howler brings it back again with the propulsive grit of “Pythagorean Fearem” and strong closer “Black Lagoon.”

Overall, “America Give Up” is a solid debut that largely delivers on the hype. Howler seems to have well-developed songwriting chops and a good grasp on what they do well. City Pages’ Year of Music cover portrayed Howler as bigger than their hometown; they’ve proven themselves worthy of this buzz so far. Hopefully they can keep the momentum going with subsequent releases and avoid the fate of countless buzzbands that have come before them.

Rating: 3 out of 4 stars