I did something that I don’t do very often, I guess it could almost be classed as ‘multi-tasking’ but as they didn’t occur at the same time, I’m not going to use that phrase. Basically I was due to work out of the Bristol office during the week and I saw that a fab band called The Howlers were playing in Bristol so I combined my trip, worked from 9-5 and then played from 7-10. The venue was The Lanes and I had visions of the band playing on a disused bowling lane whilst people jostled with bowlers, lining up to score a strike…..or if you’re me, another gutterball!

The band have quickly established themselves as one of the UK’s must-see live acts, gaining much deserved praise from radio royalty including BBC 6 Music, KEXP and BBC Radio 1 as well as major programming on BT Sport, SkySports and SoccerAm. I first heard and fell in love with their sound earlier this year and have been following them ever since. Tonight would be the first time I have ever seen them and boy was I excited.

I arrived at the venue just after 7pm and there was already a healthy crowd in the bar, the stage was at one end of the room with seating at the other where you could enjoy home baked pizza and wonderful beer. I met with Adam, the guitarist/vocalist of The Howlers at the bar, introduced myself and had a good chat about how the tour had gone so far, got the lowdown on some technical issues in Glasgow and heard how the Portsmouth date had sold out and was one hell of a kick ass show. He needed to go and change so I left him to it and went to get my cameras out of my bag and get into position.

Opening up the evening was Bristol psych rock trio Holy Reptile which consisted of Ed on drums, David on guitar/vocals and Sam on bass. Chatting to them after the show, I found out that David and Sam had recently relocated to Bristol from Margate, Ed used to live in America and fell in love with psych rock music and they are playing a Christmas gig in Ramsgate in December. Their sound was awesome, bordering on slacker rock, they kept things fresh with some melodic guitar work, solid bass and drums that would have kept a class of unruly hoodlums in order.

They used this show to showcase a brand new track, people in the audience were the first to hear ‘Shelter’ which they were nervous about playing as they were unsure whether people would accept it, guys, it’s a Friday night, people are partying, keep playing what you play and they will get into the groove and show their appreciation for your art.

They cite The Cure as a main influence on their sound and during the end of one song, David did some pedal meddling which really ramped up the reverb and created a wonderful wall of noise akin to early Jesus and Mary Chain/My Bloody Valentine. If push came to shove, they would categorise their music as ‘Gothic Psyche Rock’ (which I didn’t disagree with), these guys have bright futures ahead of them and it was clear to see that their love of music and on stage chemistry was real and honest. To find out more about this tremendous trio, head to Instagram

After a short break for more pizza/beer/strikes, it was time for the main act, an act that I have featured many times on my radio show and even ran an interview feature with Adam from the band earlier this year, yes folks, The Howlers were in the house and ready to rock.

The room was pretty much packed as they took to the stage and swung into their set which consisted of some incredible songs which kept everyone on point. It’s hard to categorise these guys, on one hand, they sound like they have just walked off a set of a spaghetti western movie, with their twangy guitar, heavy bass and beats and on the other, they are a solid psych rock band that stink of the 70’s with the ability to kick out some killer jams.

Tracks performed during their set included ‘Lost Without You’ and ‘Don’t Love You All The Time’ which can be found on their debut EP ‘The Sum of Our Fears’ which should have landed in August but owing to production delays, has a new release date of the end of November (something to look forward to for Christmas).

The audience LOVED them, the front row were gyrating, head-banging and bobbing along to their hypnotic sound which won them a lot of new fans. I chatted to some fans that had ventured up from Plymouth to see their heroes in action.

The Howlers had a real swagger about them, a confidence that can all too often make you fall flat on your face if you don’t have the chops to back it up, no issues here as these guys have chops the size of the moon and performed an amazing set which had the room screaming for more come the end. With all of their songs performed, Adam took to the stage to perform an immense cover of Daniel "Dude" Mowrey’s ‘Cowboys Don’t Cry’ which sounded incredible with just his vocals and guitar ringing out across the room.

With just 7 dates left on their UK tour including a sold out homecoming show at The Lexington in London, you’d be a fool to miss these guys live, catch them at Preston, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, London and Brighton.

For everything else, hit their socials.

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Words and Pictures by Steve Muscutt