I am a terrible sleeper. Many’s the time I’ll be awake at two in the morning, listening to something or thinking about a review, knowing full well that my alarm is going off at 6.25 whether I like it or not.
So I understand where The Howlers are coming from. “Heavy” is very much a late night record, but it also feels like the one that looks in the mirror the following morning and says: right, we’ve got to do this. We’ve got to get through.
Their second album begins with “Cold Sweat”, and immediately there’s a swagger. Adam Young sings, “I feel like I’m living just for something to do”, but somehow makes it sound like a threat rather than a problem. There’s a confidence here that suggests whatever happens next, he’ll find a way through it.
“Late Nights” makes the point perfectly. Hugely ambitious, it underlines that The Howlers are one of those bands who sound big even when they’re trying to be understated. They seem incapable of making themselves small. “Viper” follows with percussion that is pure rock ’n’ roll and a guitar solo to match, adding a little more bite to proceedings.
“L.A Morning” deals with the fakery. “Nobody says what they really mean in a West Coast limousine”, Young observes, and there’s something telling about the way the glamour comes with suspicion attached. The ballad “Once In A Lifetime”, by contrast, feels like a direct appeal, a moment when the bravado gives way and there’s something more exposed underneath.
“Night Crawling” is incredibly well placed for some crossover success. The ambition is there, but so are the songs to back it up. Then “D.R.I.V.E” lets its hair down, and suddenly they sound like the outlaws we were told they were. It’s the sound of a band enjoying the freedom to go wherever it pleases.
The groove on the title track is one thing, but “seen the damage you put me through” is quite something else. Whoever has broken their hearts has clearly left a mark. This really is heavy, in the emotional sense, and the pain stays with them even as the music moves. You get the feeling, though, that with rock ’n’ roll at their heart, they might be able to deal with it in their own way.
“You Can Be So Cruel” aims for the stars, and when Young sings, “I’ve got something I want to say, but you never listen to me anyway”, on “White Heat”, the response seems obvious. They will be listening. On this evidence, plenty of them.
“Change My Name” brings hopeless romanticism, while “Goodbye” has a late night bar room feel. You can imagine it being played in a jazz club at half one, someone tinkling away with a bow tie on and their shirt undone. It’s a lovely way to leave things, with the night almost over and its consequences still hanging around.
More than anything, The Howlers sound like a band who believe in themselves. They know they’re on the cusp of something big, and that certainty runs through “Heavy”. We haven’t got many rock ’n’ roll stars these days. These feel like they might be.
Surely they’re only a couple of big support slots away from the top.
Rating: 8.5/10
