Howard Hello - Dont Drink His Blood

by Dixie Ernill

published: 11 / 4 / 2004

Label: Temporary Residence
Format: CD

intro

Promising acoustic pop, unfortunately ruined and damaged by poor vocals

Hailing from across the pond, Howard Hello have named their second LP 'Don’t Drink His Blood'. Thankfully though this is not a horror movie soundtrack, a satanic cult’s musical output or worse still dodgy American heavy metal. Kicking off with the imaginatively entitled 'Intro', an instrumental that reminds me of incidental film music that could accompany the dawning of a new day after a vicious war, the album is not the easiest record to pigeonhole. 'Giving Up' is another track that can be best summed up with reference to a film. There is a scene in 'High Fidelity' where the lead character, a record shop owner, decides to try and sell a record by the Beta Band by playing it in the shop. Soon all the customers are tapping or nodding along to a track they haven’t heard before (and ultimately buying it). That’s what I found myself doing. It’s mainly an instrumental track with a lush female vocal delicately woven into it, but low down in the mix, as the song builds. After a dull and disappointing instrumental, we get another meandering track and the first taste of some dreadful male vocals that sadly re-appear too frequently throughout the rest of the LP. It’s a shame, because with a better singer this could be on a par with the rather wonderful Polyphonic Spree. There isn’t much more to say as the rest of the LP follows a similar pattern with poor vocals ruining promising songs. Best advice is to cobble together the cash to buy 'Giving Up' if it is released as a single or wait for the LP to hit the bargain bin before giving it the time of day. To say the least I’m truly disappointed, as one with a greater diction than I once said. Pass me some American heavy metal please!

Track Listing:-

1 Intro
2 Giving Up
3 And As Always, Night Turns Into Day
4 My Friend
5 The Parasite
6 False Hope
7 Truth
8 Way To Go
9 Ending

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