America Give Up

The latest in a long line of cookie-cutter jangly American indie rock acts, Howler already had a multitude of hipster blogs and magazines wax lyrical about their brand of raucous garage pop, way before they’d even made a record. Thus, much was expected of their debut America Give Up. Thankfully it does not disappoint. True, The Strokes and The Moldy Peaches are obvious influences on the 11-track offering. But while they won’t win any points in the originality stakes (singer Jordan Gatesmith practically does a Joey Ramone imitation throughout ‘America’ and ‘Pythagorean Fearem’) the whole thing is a fun, handclap-laden, clever, three chord riot that more than lives up to the hype.