After the acclaimed Welsh-language debut, Howl Griff speak in tongues with their first English-language album. The Hum is out now on Amazon and iTunes and in record shops nationwide – or download from Bandcamp for as little as 39p per track.
Recorded in Cardiff next to a taxis' knackers yard a goal-kick from Ninian Park, the 13 songs span a wide range of musical styles and lyrical themes.
From the Krautrock opener Bluebirds to the epic closer Lies & Facts – imagine Neil Young fronting Doves – the album displays Howl Griff's ever-eclectic but always interesting musical influences, from the Delgados to Dr Feelgood, Traffic to Teenage Fanclub and Steely Dan to Slade.
Download now from Bandcamp for as little as 39p per track (more if you like)
1. Bluebirds (video here; lyrics to all songs here) Krautrock-flavoured opener drives along with the haunting tale of a prisoner plotting a new life beyond bars.
2. Crash & Burn (video) The wheels have fallen off the wagon and the world plunges into economic meltdown. As horns blare in a ska-inflected singalong ending, Howl Griff ask: Who's running the show?
3. Devotion (video) Supremely jangly singalong, all Rickenbackers and love. And Love, come to think of it.
4. Giving it the Always(video) The music: Steely Dan meets Tooting Afrobeat. The lyrics: a neurolinguistic analysis of musical catchiness.
5. Back to Normality (video) Prepare to be hooked. Huge chorus and coda for an intensely memorable plea for a better future.
6. Unselfish Calming you down with a plaintive reflection on life's vagaries. That is what we do.
7. Uduhudu(video) When your brain breaks, you don't always need a doctor. But Edison's inventions are always at hand.
8. Hideaway Meditative reflection on all the atoms in the universe, and a desire to escape them.
9. Jean's Therapy(video) Two-minutes-odd of raucous garage punk, with nods to The Cars and Dr Feelgood. Mentions not only ophthalmology but also the Zuider Zee.
10. Dark Energy It's the scientifically inexplicable force that surrounds us. And there's something else within us, too.
11. Sunrise (video) Addictive as crystal meth, sunny as a smile from a child. You'll be singing it within seconds.
12. Surreal (video) Chirpy Buffalo Springfield music belies a dark lyric about, er, radiation poisoning. As you do.
13. Lies & Facts The album's closer, featuring a private detective and the shady lady who becomes his obsession.
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