WHATEVER, IT'S COOL

HOWLER – World of Joy (Rough Trade)

Bear with me on this one--there's a lot I'm trying to accomplish here. I'm reviewing a record, sure, but I'm also trying to make you, the reader, understand my generation.

That's a big pill to swallow, I know, but we're dealing with a record made by someone my age, so I figure this is as good an opportunity as any to be your millennial ambassador. I would love to pull you into my world for a few minutes, on a journey of apathy, anarchy, "getting it," "gif.-ing it," self-doubt, self-importance, selfie-doubt, selfie-importance, that one show Skins that was cool for a while, fear, loathing, and iOS7.

From my time spent among the peoples of the Millennia, it seems that much of our cultural discourse revolves around finding a work of art to be either "cool" or "whatever." Many of my generation use the strain of Millenial dialect that would attach the article "like" to the latter of these qualifiers, and in that circumstance, "like" is a placeholder that means, "You understand what I'm talking about because we were both born after Reagan left office. In the spirit of brevity let's not clutter this with cumbersome adjectives. All hail Cyrus."

Knowing this, I'll break down Howler's new LP World of Joy, track-by-track, utilizing these two systems of ranking. A song will either be graded (by me, a Millennial) "whatever," or "it's cool." In rare and astonishing cases, a single track could be an amalgam of the two. Both terms will stand as qualifying scores that will judge the tonal intention of the content as well as how good I think the song is. But be careful, as positive and negative connotations are not mutually exclusive to "whatever" or "it's cool"; if I say something is "whatever," I could be saying that it kinda blows, I could be accusing it of being too dismissive, or being some kind of faux-fashionable charade, or maybe I'm just saying that it's really good at being "whatever." In the same manner, "cool" could mean that I think the track is highly enjoyable, or that I disapprove of its overt embrace of a guitar tone that is far too pastiche to be compelling in any way, or that maybe they're all just trying too hard. For that is the ceaseless beauty of the Millennial language: in opposition to the foundation of nearly all forms of human communication, words need not remain bound to definitions.

Cause, you know, we don't like labels. Don't put our words in a box, man.

Alright, X-ers, Baby-Boomers and the like. Let us begin:

1. "Al's Corral" - Whatever.

The first chorus on this record: "I won't say yes, but I might say maybe"

It's ridiculous and caricaturesque in nature, and it's a complete overexertion of our generational issues as non-committal semi-adults, but the satire is coming from someone who shrugs and eye rolls his way through every interview he's involved in. I was tempted to give this track a "whatever, bro" just from the lyrical content alone, but it is a rollicking start to the record, and the new tonal direction of the band is refreshing.

2. "Drip" - It's Cool.

Lets see here… guitar sound effects that emulate lyrical content, a sonic approach to structure, and lyrical cadence that borrows from old style rock and roll while paying homage to surf aesthetics, while…waging a cultural critique against the shortcomings of your own lifestyle as well as the powers that be within the world of musicianship. Well, I hate to say it, but these are all signs of caring in some form. Rather unmillenial of them, but I'm gonna give these guys an "its cool" for referencing artistic forbearers in a tasteful manner, having a set of somewhat pointed and directional lyrics, and for just trying to do things. To put it succinctly, I gave it an "its cool" because there is a distinct lack of "whatever" in this track. The ideal millennial doesn't think stuff, like things, or do anything except be cool or whatever, you know? Its like, "Cool reverb, bro."

3. "Don't Wanna" - Whatever, It's Cool.

As I said earlier, to pen a song that is a crystalline blend of the two qualifying terms provided is an incredible accomplishment; one that should not be overlooked. Not only is this the song where the aesthetics of the band hit their stride in full, but the song effortlessly glides into the realm that can only be described as anthemic. What really works here is the nature of the millennial attitude that gets channelled- there is no spite, no malice, no inconvenience to others. Whereas "I might say maybe," from the first falls short of a polished example of Westerbergian word play, and comes across as a verbal eye roll, here we find the opposite polar end of the record, not but two songs later. "You don't even have to be a punk if you don't want to." It takes true songwriting craftsmanship to enable such verbal simplicity to possess such an incredible level of functionality. "If you don't want to." Four words carry the weight of the entire song; an entire people. My people. We're directionless societal drains, but we finally have an anthem.

"Don't Wanna" is a part of something much bigger than itself, as it has joined the ranks of the elusive and mysterious works that perfectly convey the dichotomy of the simple three or four chord anthem, which is:
A: Repetitive three or four chord songs are easy. This is true.
B: If you know these chords, which are very easy, you too can make a song as good as this one someday. This is a lie.

"Don't Wanna" is where Howler take leaps and bounds away from just being a verbed-out buzz-band and briefly align themselves with the storied lineage of the best liars in the industry- the Zimmermans, the Pettys, the Cuomos: rockstars and writers who can convince their audience that the perfection of their own Billboard 100 3-chord songs are somehow comparable to those made by civilians, simply because they come from the same simplistic tri-chord soil. What I mean to say here is that this song is a month-old classic, and it takes true skill to compose a classic. Succinctly put: "Don't Wanna" is the simplest song that you could never write.

It's a single melodic shrug, a tremendous one, and it might just be the millennial "All You Need is Love."

Whatever. It's cool.

4. "Yacht Boys" - "Whatever" Meets, "Pfft, Whatever," which actually amounts to, "it's cool," somehow.

The chorus: "Too busy choking on my medicine, but, lord, haven't you heard that nothing ever happens… not ever." Then the fuzzed out Dick Dale lead riff. Yacht Boys is a hook stuffed number that addresses both class difference and personal indifference- the bread and butter of the mic'd millennial, and Howler nails it on this one as well.

5. "In the Red" - "Yeah, it's cool, but whatever."

The start stop showmanship of the first LP is present in spades on tracks like this one, although the glittering angles have been replaced with the garbage disposal grumble of some grungier guitars played in bouncy strum patterns. The finer points of the record come from shimmering chorus, 12 strings, and Rickenbacker pickups; some real REM type stuff.

Well, bringing this up might be shooting dirty pool in a review penned by a self-proclaimed chill dude or whatever, but I suppose it's as good a time as any to raise it as a point of discussion.

A black Rickenbacker (like this one) and an orange Fender offset guitar (like this one) have become part of the band's main touring rigs now- and I have to say that its all very oedipal… or is it Freudian? Who knows? Because, you know, cause he's dating the daughter of the guitarist from that band with the feelings and the Morrisseys. I mean, my girlfriend's dad builds motorcycles, really cool ones, and I think that's awesome, but I'm not going to start rebuilding old café racers in my garage if only for the reason that I believe modern romance is enough of a Freudian minefield as-is.

But as we bring ourselves back to the record, and as I switch from catty gossip-blog columnist back to almost-semi-respectable amateur music critic/ millennial linguist and behavioral analyst, it's clear that In The Red is one of the finest Howler tunes released to date. I mean, it's no Don't Wanna, but it's still great. That's another thing we do by the way, we rank shit. Did you ask us to rank anything? Does it help that we rank everything? Don't start asking questions, we'll rank you in something so fast that you won't even know what happened. Like these guys. And thats how we treat our wildlife. Just think how brutal your compartmentalization will be.

6. "World of Joy" - It's Cool, 'Cause Whatever.

Extensive sarcasm: whatever. Tambourine: cool.

7. "Louise" - It's Cool

Feelings and self doubt: cool. No tambourine: whatever.
In the traditional millennial sense, there is really no trace of "Whatever" on this track at all. Louise, a real powerhouse anthem of adoration and insecurity might be the most feeling and performative tumult we've seen from this group. Grown-ups, suits, or un-chill, high-key bros would probably give this song a high numerical or star-based rating. I don't disagree with them, but I'll just give it an "It's Cool."

8. "Here's the Itch that Creeps Through My Skull" - Whatever because whatever.

It takes guts to show vulnerability and sincerity on a rock record. It takes bravery to peel off the veneer of apathy and bravado to reveal the human underneath. It takes courage. It takes authenticity. Or maybe just a manager that says, "I don't know, you should toss a slow one on there too." Regardless, its something new from Howler, who took the time to turn down on the last two.

However, I can't get all the way through a Howler review without at least touching on his voice, which is, to say the least, a strange beast. While it certainly came off as excessive on the first few spins of their first LP America Give Up, (there was a period where fellow Beat columnist Layne Montgomery and I used to do extensive imitations of his broken croon on drinking outings; almost as much as we did Elvis Costello) his signature inflection seems to have come into its own on this record, fluctuating between roaring grit and cool disdain within the span of a single line. Having said all that, there is a truly disarming vocal tone on the track, and you see behind the curtain and hear someone who, not that long ago, was only seventeen. Millenials don't acknowledge their pasts. Except on the holy Throw Back Thursday.

I was gonna give it a whatever, straight up, but then I pictured how cool everyone would look when swaying to this song live.Like this. Aw, fucking christ do we love our gifs.

9. "Indictment" - Whatever, Bro

YouTube ads. Whatever.

10. "Aphorismic Wasteland Blues" - It's Like, You Know?

Tambourine. So whatever, it's almost cool.

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