Howlies – Trippin’ With Howlies
It’s free, but honestly, it would be worth paying for. Howlies have made their EP Trippin’ With Howlies available for free download from their website, here. I’d highly recommend it, as it’s a superb wee record. Part surf-pop, part old time rock ‘n’ roll and part scratchy, gravelly indie-pop, quite how we’ve ended up in a world where this sort of thing is being handed out for nothing is beyond me. If I were in a position to pay to see these lads live, then I’d feel less guilty, but enjoying something and not being able to acknowledge the work that went into it with a fiver still seems wrong to me. I know the world is changing and there are a million reasons it makes sense to do this, but I still feel wrong just helping myself.
It has cracking pace, and snarls with plenty of indie guitar balls, but underpinning all this is a melodic structure from old fashioned times which reminds me slightly of the Raveonettes’ approach. The approach may be similar, but the two groups don’t sound much like each other. Their list of influences might well point you to what to expect. In terms of how they build their songs, Bo Diddley, James Brown, Howlin’ Wolf, Chuck Berry are all evident, but in terms of how they play them you see names like the Ramones and the Velvet Underground in there.
It sounds like a bit of amish-mash, but the fact that the writing comes from one side and the playing from the other means you have an easily graspable sound right from the off, and with songs of this quality you’re always going to be onto a winner.
Howlies – Angeline
howlies are an atlanta sensation!
I certainly hope this wasn’t a typo, but “amish-mash” would make a fantastic name, either for a new genre or a potato-based food of some sort.
Amish-mash! Excellent. It sounds like what Amish DJs might produce to delight the masses. Although their raw material might be somewhat limited.
Davy, I think I was sent a promo email actually. A lot of promo emails are just advertising rubbish, but there are some promo people who are consistently good, and I like it when bands get in touch themselves. I find loads of good stuff from the emails people send me.
Am liking. How’d you hear about them?