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By Dennis Cook
There's a tendency for music publications to write about the same things – the same bands, the same albums, and all covered around the same time. Driven by advertising and publicists, this cycle makes it easy to miss a great rock 'n' roll slab like this one. Worcester, Massachusetts' The Howl are a self-described "modern-day power trio" comprised of singer-guitarist Troy Gonyea, drummer Justin Berthiaume (though Tommy Callahan plays on this album), and bassist Jeff "JB" Berg that smacks it around like the Black Keys after a cold shot of Vaughn Brothers. This debut swings into the red, distorting and caressing their blue grooves with finesse and no small abandon.
In their bio, Gonyea states, "I think a lot of people nowadays have lost sight of the fact that music is a language. In fact I'm sure it was our first language. It's there to communicate, directly, straight to the emotions or instincts. That's really what we want to tap into here." That's Megahorn Breakdown Suite in a nutshell, which moves with undisguised glee through territory pioneered by early Black Crowes and '60s British blues rockers like Cactus, Free, and Savoy Brown. There's twang and grit to everything, the old 12-bar structures deep fried and heavily salted.
Opener "Not Alone" lives up to the band's name, wailing against the darkness with real force. "Two-Stroke" is the kind of dirty boogie that makes you want to lose an afternoon drinking in a topless bar. It merges Led Zeppelin's "Candy Store Rock" with an arrangement befitting the great Faith No More. "(Do The) Curl Up and Die" has the full-throttle roar of the Beatles' "Kansas City," a holy rollin' spirit powering every note. The Howl shows impeccable taste and good instincts reviving Randy Newman's hyper sarcastic pro-America gem "Political Science," which they take out to the woodshed and smoke with acoustic country accents.
As good as everything is on this short, sharp opening salvo what truly excites is the feeling there's great depths yet to be explored. The Howl jump out of the gate with the kind of enthusiasm and natural talent that bears watching. In the meantime, they've given us 10-tracks of the good stuff to tide us over.
JamBase | San Francisco
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