Dr. John’s hit 2012 album Locked Down saw the 71yo capture the attention of a swathe of new ears, thanks in no small part to the album’s producer Dan Auerbach. The Black Keys’ singer/guitarist has had a solid run behind the desk in recent years, helming albums by Jessia Lea Mayfield and JEFF The Brotherhood.
So when news arrived that Auerbach had invited southern Californian surf-rock band The Growlers to his Nashville studio for their third album, many saw this as a sign that the young band were about to find themselves reaching a far wider audience.
However, after announcements of album delays, news broke that The Growlers had parted ways with Auerbach. The band weren’t digging his ‘overcooked-vibe’ and were ultimately unhappy with the album they were creating. They opted instead to head back to the West Coast and record the album themselves in their own warehouse-cum-studio.
The result is Hung at Heart, a reverb drenched, laid (the fuck) back lo-fi surf record.
The Growlers have managed to stick out from other garage-revivalists for their combination of surf rock tropes with demented, gothic atmospheres; as well as their sense of humour, which the album title attests to.
Singer Brooks Neilsen combines a thick, nasal delivery with slightly bent takes on familiar rock and roll themes. On opener ‘Someday’, he offers off-kilter devotions of love, “oh someday/ when tall-boys turn into champagne/ when bologna turns into steak”; while he infuses twisted imagery hilariously on album highlight ‘Salt On A Slug’.
The band behind Neilsen similarly do their part, Matt Taylor’s lead guitar and Kyle Straka’s synths add a hypnotic, haunted-carnival atmosphere to ‘No Need For Eyes’, ‘Row’ and ‘It’s No Use’. The band sound better when their self-professed ‘beach-goth’ sound leans heavier on the ‘goth’, but it’s the rarer part of their sound.
As such, the band opts for feeling good the majority of the time, and at fifteen songs long, it leads to an album that drags on. Songs like ‘In Between’, ‘Derka Blues’ and ‘Beach Rats’ could be culled to make for a more concise album.
However, The Growlers benefit more from their sound rather than their songs, and while on this album their songs might be inconsistent, their sound is always inviting. Infectious surf energy, with swirling, hazy guitar and synth flourishes, all combined with Neilsen’s stoned narratives; The Growlers are one of the coolest sounding bands on the planet.
Here’s hoping they eventually reach a similar amount of ears to what Auerbach could have afforded.
