Howlin Rain | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Unapologetically influenced by the strong but easygoing grooves of West Coast 70s rock, Howlin Rain represented something of a change of pace for guitarist and singer Ethan Miller, who previously fronted the psychedelic noise rock ensemble Comets on Fire. After the recording of Comets on Fires final album, Avatar, in 2006, Miller was eager to explore the more melodic direction the group had begun pursuing, and with bassist Ian Gradek (who had known Miller since high school) and drummer John Moloney (a member of the like-minded band Sunburned Hand of the Man), he formed a new band, Howlin Rain. Since then, they have recorded sporadically with a constantly evolving lineup. Miller is also a member of Heron Oblivion, Feral Ohms, and the Odyssey Cult. The independent Birdman Records signed Howlin Rain and released their self-titled debut in 2006, while the band hit the road, touring as an opening act for Queens of the Stone Age, with guitarist Mike Jackson beefing up their lineup on-stage. After touring behind the groups album, Moloney returned to Sunburned Hand of the Man, and while writing material for the second Howlin Rain album, Miller assembled a new version of the band. Jackson joined Miller and Gradek as a full-time member, alongside new recruits Joel Robinow (ex-Drunk Horse) on keyboards, horns, guitar, and backing vocals; Eli Eckert (also of Drunk Horse) on guitar and bass; and Garrett Goddard (of Cuts and Colossal Yes) on drums. Rick Rubin, a noted fan of classic 70s rock, was impressed with the material for Howlin Rains second album, and 2008s Magnificent Fiend was jointly released by Birdman and Rubins American Recordings imprint. The band released the digital-only 12" "The Good Life" in 2010, followed by a limited vinyl release the following year. Also in 2010, Belle & Sebastian selected them to perform at the second Bowlie Weekender in the U.K. (produced and presented by All Tomorrows Parties). Howlin Rain subsequently recorded their third full-length, The Russian Wilds, which was co-produced by the band and Tim Green and released by American Recordings/Birdman in early 2012. Concert recordings from the tour were later collected and released in 2014 as Live Rain. Miller had been working on a trilogy in the studio at the time of its release. The first part of that project, Mansion Songs, appeared in January of 2015. After incessant touring for the better part of two years, Miller assembled another incarnation of the band--Daniel Cervantes, bottleneck slide guitar; Jeff McElroy, bass and Justin Smith, drums--for the second installment in the Mansion Songs trilogy, The Alligator Bride. Recorded by Eric "King Riff" Bauer, the band cut everything live to tape in first or second takes with no overdubs. Their attempt was to capture the spirit and vibe of recordings such as the Grateful Deads Europe 72, Mountain Bus Sundance, and Frees 1969 classic Fire and Water. Miller categorized the sound of the record as "Neal Casady Rock," in honor of the inspiration of the unofficial patron saint of the Beat Generation writers. The Alligator Bride was issued in June of 2018 on Millers Silver Current Records label. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 8 Title: Howlin Rain Released: 2006-05-23 Tracks: 8 Duration: 50:36 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Death Prayer in Heaven’s Orchard (04:03) 2 Calling Lightning With a Scythe (06:15) 3 Roll on the Rusted Days (05:51) 4 The Hanging Heart (09:11) 5 Show Business (03:10) 6 Indians, Whores and Spanish Men of God (06:27) 7 In Sand and Dirt (05:53) 8 The Firing of the Midnight Rain (09:46) |
| Howlin Rain : Allmusic album Review : Howlin Rain is the psychedelic country/garage rock side project of Comets on Fire guitarist Ethan Miller with Sunburned Hand of the Man drummer John Moloney and bassist Ian Gradek -- described as an "iron worker." If sunshine visions of a West Coast acid-drenched flannel-garbed truck-stop confab hanging out and letting it rip are your thing, then this ones for you. For a defining moment, one need not go any further than "Calling Lightning with a Scythe." While the cut opens with strolling banjos and shuffling drums as acoustic and electric guitars gurgle in a midtempo country ramshackle choogle, the tension begins to build until about three minutes in, when the laid-back hedonism gives way first to empty space and detuned slide guitars that explode a few seconds later into pure squalling psych overload guitar chaos -- as the acoustics continue to strum the melody, of course. If anything, this music reminds one of the greatest country-fried moments of Tucsons Giant Sand, but drenched in post-rock humidity. Theres also a bit of the Grateful Dead in here, but make it the Dead of the American Beauty tour -- guys who still understood what rock & roll was instead of noodling themselves to death. Millers a ragged-as-hell lead singer, but it works splendidly for this material. These songs are loose and shambolic but well crafted; other favorites are "The Hanging Heart" and "Indians, Whores and Spanish Men of God." The overall feel is a bit reckless but utterly lyrical. This isnt alt-country; its dope-fueled country-rock -- perfect for the acid folk generation who like their genres mixed up -- produced by the band and engineered by Comets on Fire boardman Tim Green, with sax on a few cuts played by Tim Daly (who guests regularly with the Comets). This is rough, woolly, and utterly hummable music that wears its mange proudly but not pretentiously. Howlin Rains debut is rather timeless. It feels like it could have come from anywhere in any present rock era and thats one of its strengths. In five or ten years youll still be scratching your head as to why it sounds both so timely and dated. Highly recommended. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 8 Title: Wild Life Released: 2008-03-03 Tracks: 2 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Wild Life (?) 2 Black Sangria (?) |
 | Album: 3 of 8 Title: Magnificent Fiend Released: 2008-03-04 Tracks: 8 Duration: 44:49 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Requiem (00:54) 2 Dancers at the End of Time (05:56) 3 Calling Lightning, Part 2 (05:11) 4 Lord Have Mercy (06:36) 5 Nomads (05:05) 6 El Rey (07:08) 7 Goodbye Ruby (07:51) 8 Riverboat (06:04) |
| Magnificent Fiend : Allmusic album Review : If Magnificent Fiend, the second album by Howlin Rain, sounds like a different band made the record, its not the brown windowpane working its sickly magic on you, its in many ways an accurate perception. Howlin Rain is Ethan Millers side project when hes not playing with his "other band," Comets on Fire. HRs self-titled debut was released in 2006. It was well-received for its taut, simple song structures that evoked everything from the Grateful Dead to harder, more riff-laden big rock & roll power plays. It was loud, proud, and topped off with just a touch of country and blues. Miller, bassist Ian Gradek, and rhythm guitarist Mike Jackson remain from the band that made that album, while drummer Garrett Goddard and multi-instrumentalist Joel Robinow (keyboards, harmony vocals, and "horn") complete the quintet. There are a few guests filling out the proceedings as well: Matt Waters and Scott Knippelmeir guest on saxophone and trombone, respectively, and Eli Eckert participates on guitar and bass in places. The music here is much more complex. These are still identifiable as rock songs, but there are spaces in them that evoke the harder edges of improvising rock acts like early Steppenwolf, Delaney & Bonnie (at their most rockist), and even Quicksilver Messenger Service. But this isnt necessarily a throwback group at all, and Magnificent Fiend is its own affair. It is louder, wilder, bigger, and more live sounding than the records made by any of those bands. These songs are knottier, building on the more elemental riffs and melodies of the previous set and creating something denser, more immediate, and menacing in the process. Check "Dancers at the End of Time," with its direct lift of the title from Michael Moorcocks novel of the same name. It begins with a bone-crushing blast of guitars in wah-wah overdrive, as an organ pumps up the rhythm section before it retreats for a few moments into a simple chord line as a feint. As the band comes back in to create the space for the songs lyrics and melodic line -- and Miller is no less a completely shambolic if wildly expressive vocalist than he has ever been -- all hell breaks loose and Miller enters at full throttle. The feeling of San Franciscos heavier side during the late 60s comes screaming out of the gate. There are neat little quotes from tunes like "Badge," as well as the Deads set-up moments where the guitars could find each other in the ether of the jam and push the entire tune into another terrain -- but it never really goes there, just toys with it. The album is focused; on the harder jams, it all serves to bring the tunes out of the sprawl with as much power, force, and volume as possible. Recorded in the same studio that Tom Waits used for Bone Machine, a similar rawness -- courtesy of recording engineer Tim Green -- is present in its grooves, but it isnt nearly as menacing. If anything, this is a brighter recording than its predecessor, a fine if less economical one musically. Tracks like "Calling Lightning, Pt. 2," "Goodbye Ruby," and the gradually building "El Rey" feel like a stone cross between the early, more musically and soulfully adventurous Widespread Panic and the harder edge of Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. Miller walks unafraid into a sonic terrain where a little chaos and rockist posturing enter the mix freely. Other cuts, such as the more roots-oriented, murkier, and psychedelically dreamy "Nomads," weave guitar lines across channels, as blues phrasing ebbs edgily into folk, country, and drifting free-form breeziness, all meld and groove. Album closer "Riverboat" traces the same veins that the Dead (as played by the Meat Puppets) used in wrapping themselves around Southern rock tropes like those offered by the Marshall Tucker Band (easily the most experimental and musically restless of the acts that boomed out of the region from the 1970s). Yeah, this is post-hippie music played with fuel injection, hedonism, and teeth. Its a tighter, less primitive album than its predecessor, but as such, it has a lot more to offer as well. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 8 Title: The Good Life Released: 2010-11-30 Tracks: 3 Duration: 18:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Good Life (06:54) 2 Burning of the Midnight Lamp (05:59) 3 Hung Out in the Rain (05:44) |
 | Album: 5 of 8 Title: The Russian Wilds Released: 2012-02-14 Tracks: 11 Duration: 1:01:13 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Self Made Man (08:00) 2 Phantom in the Valley (07:17) 3 Cant Satisfy Me Now (06:19) 4 Cherokee Werewolf (05:26) 5 Strange Thunder (08:53) 6 Plex Reception (00:37) 7 Dark Side (05:18) 8 Beneath Wild Wings (04:16) 9 Collage (05:01) 10 Walking Through Stone (06:53) 11 ...Still Walking, Still Stone (03:09) |
| The Russian Wilds : Allmusic album Review : Howlin Rain frontman/guitarist and songwriter Ethan Miller emerges four years after 2008s Magnificent Fiend with a slew of new bandmates -- keyboardist Joel Robinow is the only holdover -- and working with Rick Rubin as executive producer. Howlin Rain are indeed a different animal than in their previous incarnation. The influences from the 60s and 70s remain even more abundant here, but are spread out in meticulously constructed songs -- even if they dont initially sound like it. With Earthless guitarist Isaiah Mitchell, drummer Raj Ojha, and bassist Cyrus Comiskey in the fold, the creative leap Howlin Rain have made is surprising. Miller is more disciplined as a writer, arranger, and vocalist. His voice, no longer an instrument that scorches the ears (though it can), borrows from Steve Marriott, Uriah Heeps David Byron, and Deep Purples Ian Gillan. With Robinow and Mitchell on backing vocals and two female guests (Susan Appe and Mandy Green), the harmonies on these rough-and-rowdy tracks carry their melodies more easily and allow Miller to be more expressive rather than just ragged. The album, selected from more than three hours worth of material, fits together seamlessly. Heavy guitars and drums, fuzz, effects, organs, Mellotrons, numerous textural elements, and wide-ranging dynamics suggest everything from psych, hard 60s and 70s rock, blues, and even R&B. While opener "Self Made Man" is a straight blues-rocker -- with Miller and Mitchell matching as fine foils on guitar -- "Phantom in the Valley" evokes Quicksilver Messenger Services acid-drenched narratives that evolve until they transform into early Santanas Latin rock by the last section, complete with a horn section and hand drums. "Cherokee Werewolf," with its funky Rhodes piano and call-and-response female chorus, suggests not only the Humble Pie of Smokin and Big Brother & the Holding Company, but Little Feats 1969 debut album with dreamier guitars. "Dark Side" is pure rockist strut circa 1972, while "Beneath Wild Wings" is an intricately constructed nod toward the kind of rock & roll-R&B fusion that was typical in Great Britain in the early 70s. "Walking Through Stone" is overblown, bluesy riff rock with Mitchell pushing his guitar into the red. All of of this is strange and extremely attractive, especially since it shouldnt add up. When the most contemporary tune here is a gorgeous cover of the James Gangs spacy, lilting "Collage," you know youre time-traveling. For all of his obsession with classic rock, Miller is a hell of a songwriter. He combines elements that normally sprawl in tight constructions that sound loose and relaxed. In his new work, passion and feel meet dynamic and melody in equal balance (this is in no small part due to Tim Greens fabulous production). The Russian Wilds is Howlin Rains most accessible recording, but enormous ambition and musical mastery of rock & rolls mighty past make it an essential one, too. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 8 Title: Live Rain Released: 2014-04-29 Tracks: 9 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Phantom in the Valley (?) 2 Self Made Man (?) 3 Cant Satisfy Me Now (?) 4 Beneath Wild Wings (?) 5 Lord Have Mercy (?) 6 Hung Out in the Rain (?) 7 Calling Lightning, Part 2 (?) 8 Dancers at the End of the Time (?) 9 Roll on the Rusted Days (?) |
| Live Rain : Allmusic album Review : Ethan Millers Howlin Rain has issued several live offerings in the past, either directly from his blog or in various limited editions on various labels. Live Rain was compiled from several performances on 2012s The Russian Wilds tour, and features the same lineup that appeared on that album: Miller on lead vocals and guitar, Isaiah Mitchell (Earthless) on guitar, bassist Cyrus Comiskey (Drunk Horse), and drummer Raj Ojha. "Phantom in the Valley," "Self-Made Man," "Cant Satisfy Me Now," and "Beneath Wild Wings" all appeared on that record, and they comprise the first four selections here. Given Rick Rubins production on the studio offering, these more visceral readings are more incendiary and ragged -- especially the blues-fried distortion and guitar interplay in "Self-Made Man" that burns on for over 11 minutes. The live version of "Lord Have Mercy" (from 2008s Magnificent Fiend), with its gospel overtones, is excellent once it moves past the verses. "Hung Out in the Rain," which eventually appeared on 2013s The Griffin EP, is a ballad with nice slide work, but is otherwise unremarkable, an unnecessary and perhaps even unwelcome break from the sets intensity. Things pick up with the soulful, Southern-fried "Calling Lightning, Pt. 2," which features tight, twinned guitar lines, and one of the more outrageous bass solos to appear on a rock record in recent years. The track gives way to a fluid, ripping, "Dancers at the End of Time." (While these are longtime band concert standbys, these versions also eclipse their studio counterparts on Magnificent Fiend.) The closer is a scorching, unhinged reading of "Roll on the Rusted Days," whose original was a high-water mark on Howlin Rains self-titled debut in 2006. Millers moaning and growling in the intro gives way to fist-pumping, furious boogie rock with razor-wire dual lead guitars and double-timed kick drum. It was obviously inspired by the live recordings of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and it blisters. Despite the single misstep, Live Rain is a worthy stopgap between studio recordings. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 8 Title: Mansion Songs Released: 2015-01 Tracks: 8 Duration: 39:27 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Big Red Moon (05:50) 2 Meet Me In The Wheat (05:46) 3 Coliseum (04:11) 4 The New Age (02:12) 5 Wild Bush (02:56) 6 Restless (05:10) 7 Lucy Fairchild (06:25) 8 Ceiling Fan (06:57) |
| Mansion Songs : Allmusic album Review : According to Ethan Miller, Howlin Rains founder, frontman, and only constant member, Mansion Songs is the first recording in what is conceived as a trilogy. This is not a concept recording per se; there is no set narrative, but there is a trajectory. In his own words, he "...wanted to track the journey from nothingness back to creation in musical form in a set of three albums and rock bottom was the perfect place to start from." While that reads lofty bordering on pretentious, these eight songs -- recorded with a revolving cast of musicians (most prominently Meg Baird in a variety of roles, including drummer and backing vocalist) and co-producer Eric Bauer -- are anything but. The blown-out fringes of Live Rain are nowhere present, and if anything, the albums sound is far more understated than anything theyve ever done. Its closer to the bands 2006 debut offering, but looser, rawer -- some cuts were finished after one or two takes. Though Miller is a mighty axe slinger, there are no guitar pyrotechnics here, only confessional, intimate songs in various tempos and arrangements. "Big Red Moon" commences the album with Miller singing completely a cappella. The words are poetic, full of desolate streets, filthy barrooms, and poverty. The protagonist embraces them with the promise that connection with another in the dark, under the moon, with a bottle of whiskey offers unnameable possibility. On the refrain the band kicks in: slide guitars, drums, tambourines, three electric guitars, and saxophone. Its a ragged rocker, full of restless country soul and a garage bands commitment. "Meet Me in the Wheat" offers country blues in its intro with lovely backing vocals from Baird (who also plays drums), slide electric, 12-string acoustic, and more. It unfolds as a twisted, desperate gospel rocker, full of pain and pathos, though it musically evokes the Black Crowes circa Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. The twinned acoustic slide and organ break in the middle is priceless. The ballads, "Coliseum" and "Lucy Fairchild," are perhaps more effective because of the stark images evinced by Millers words, his simple melodies and expressive vocals deliver the weight of his emotional state directly without the distraction of electric instruments. That said, "Reckless," using sparing, haunted, electric guitar sounds, is the most forlorn track here. Closer "Ceiling Fan" employs acoustic piano as the catalyst to shift its focus from post-Beat Generation spoken word with musical accompaniment reverie, to a large group rock & roll redemption song. It may contain too much name dropping, but its refrain and coda, buoyed by squalling, controlled feedback amid the acoustic instruments, are searing. It will be interesting to hear where Miller and his Howlin Rain project take the rest of this trilogy, but Mansion Songs stands on its own as a portrait of Millers considerable musical and poetic growth over the last nine years. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 8 Title: The Alligator Bride Released: 2018-06-08 Tracks: 7 Duration: 40:38 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Rainbow Trout (04:28) 2 Missouri (04:48) 3 Speed (04:11) 4 The Wild Boys (08:09) 5 Alligator Bride (06:25) 6 In the Evening (04:21) 7 Coming Down (08:13) |