Howler

I was supposed to be a farmer,” says Howler’s spindly frontman Jordan Gatesmith. “My family said ‘You have to stay here’. I said ‘No Mom. No Dad. I’m gonna go to the big city to start a rock band.’” When we tell him that his tale of rural Minnesota sounds like the beginning of film, he just grins. “Oh yeah,” he says. “It’s going to be.” Though the wry, sardonic Gatesmith – 19-years-old, denim-jacketed, with a weathered singing voice that belies his youth – and his band have consistently been likened to The Strokes, we can already see where Howler have the upper hand. Unlike Jordan, we doubt Julian Casablancas has the faintest idea of how to go about milking a cow.

Further comprised of Ian Nygaard (guitar), Max Petrek (keyboard), France Camp (bass) and Brent Mayes (drums), the band also have one other bit of trivia that’s wedged awkwardly into each of their interviews thus far: allegedly, Brent’s Dad is Prince. He denies it when we ask, and looks justifiably pissed off, given a recent review hung the whole band on this single piece of personal info. How did he feel about that? “I think Prince is going to be very upset,” he says over folded arms. Swiftly, we decide it’s best to scuttle on…

So to their album, ‘America Give Up’, which is neither as angry nor as spittleflecked as its name suggests. After a few long questions and a few short answers,  “It’s not up to us whether we take over the world or not…” we find that the title isn’t even political, either (Us: Are you trying to tap into a general sense of unease in America at the moment? Like the Occupy movement? Economic instability? Them: “Not really. It’s coincidence.”). Instead ‘America…’ is a louche, lazily late-teen record, the concept of which they tell us is better aligned with the likes of Jonathan Richman and Thee Oh Sees than The Strokes, but that musically swerves a path somewhere between The Vaccines and The Drums, borrowing the guitars of one and the retrograde flair of the other. However, while Jordan is too laid back to be preoccupied about the plummeting DOW Jones, surely he must be aware of Howler’s impending success, and the pressures that may bring. Is he intimidated? “Um, not really,” comes the faltering reply. “I guess I’m not scared because I am 19. I’ve been given a great opportunity. I could continue to do well and improve myself, or it could just collapse next year.” He tosses the thought aside. “This kind of thing happens all the time. People say lots of bands will be massive. I’ve always wanted to do this, be in bands – well, I’ve done it [in previous band Total Babe] – it’s a great experience, but you can’t have your expectations too high because, if you do, they’ll come crashing down and you’re just fucked. We’re supposed to protect our mental health here. It’s not up to us whether we take over the world or not.”  This is one guitar-wielding farmhand with his feet firmly rooted in the mud.

‘America Give Up’ is released on Rough Trade on 16th January.