San Diego's The Howls have only been around for a couple years, but their reputation already precedes them.
It only takes one listen to the band's music to see why. Their alt country sound is reminiscent of those timeless (more on that later) early Wilco and Ryan Adams albums, with a boozy old-school Stones feel thrown in for good measure. Check out the tracks "Revival" and "Rocky Ground" to see what I'm talking about.
The killer quartet will play UCSD's Loft with Janu and the Whalesharks, and the Smart Brothers on April 21. In anticipation of the show, the band told us about some of their influences.
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, by Wilco: YHF is on a whole different level. The album conveys a type of emotion where it is kind of dark but doesn't sound whiny. I feel like Wilco stepped out of their comfort zone on the record, and to have the album come out the way it did is incredible.
Heartbreaker, by Ryan Adams: It's rad when you can have an album where there is a steady mix of slower songs with songs like "Shakedown on 9th Street" and "Come Pick Me Up," where you get completely different vibes, but it still flows really well. You've got slow songs that wreck your soul, and songs that are just so dirty and jangly.
Kesha: We all have our guilty pleasures -- let's leave it at that.
Charles Bukowski: He writes in a way that makes you feel like you're there. Kind of like your having a really weird night with someone you don't really know. The other thing we love about Bukowski is the shock value. You don't really expect the things that he says or does.
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Tolstoy: His topic of writing and how he depicts it is timeless. The situations that he writes about are things that totally happen today. It's kind of a rad way to look at music, too. Good music should be the same thing as good literature. Timeless.
The San Diego music scene: Its rad being in a town where you get to go out and enjoy your neighbors playing music. It has been an honor to be able to play with and get to know bands like the Silent Comedy, Blackout Party, Smart Brothers and Dead Feather Moon. All those people are super rad, and it's awesome to live in the same town as them.
T. Loper is a writer and photographer for the San Diego music blog Owl and Bear.
