"Crown prince of the crying jag, stuffs a towel in his mouth to gag."
After the demise of These Immortal Souls in 1992, Rowland S. Howard and his uncompromising brand of lush, skeletal Post-Punk gloom fell silent until his surprising re-emergence in 1999 with the stunningly dark Teenage Snuff Film. Easily one of the most distinctive guitarists to emerge from the early Post-Punk movement, Howard weaves his tortured, razor-sharp vamps into a starkly intense aural fabric on his solo debut. Songs such as "Dead Radio" and "Breakdown (And Then...)" immerse the listener into near-perfect distillations of Howard's unique musical vision: desolate, dusty ambiance cut through with a slightly refracted spaghetti-western twang and Howard's lovely wreck of a croon. Teenage Snuff Film even features a cover of Billy Idol's "White Wedding," but in Howard's hands, the song is transformed from bubble-gum goth into an ominously twisted waltz. And then there's "Autoluminescent," an absolutely gorgeous song of redemption, which exudes the kind of sincere, crumbling pathos that is rare to find in this age of commercially-packaged art. Highly recommended.
Teenage Snuff Film
1. Dead Radio (5:39)
2. Breakdown (And Then...) (6:29)
3. She Cried (4:59)
4. I Burnt Your Clothes (4:13)
5. Exit Everywhere (7:35)
6. Silver Chain (4:38)
7. White Wedding (2:54)
8. Undone (6:56)
9. Autoluminescent (3:27)
10. Sleep Alone (7:38)
One of my favourite songwriters / guitar players ever (probably along with Chilton). Every album he played on was killer and this one may be the best introduction to his work. Even though a new album probably wouldn't have been in the cards til 2020 or so, I miss the f... out of him. RIP
ReplyDeleteAnon. I feel the same way. Thanks for the comment
ReplyDeleteAnyone got the collaboration between Howard and Nikki Sudden? Love to hear that again.
ReplyDeleteI do, a deluxe version no less. I'll post it sooner than later
ReplyDeleteIs the EP around somewhere in FLAC? Can't find it. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI'm three songs into this so far and am loving it! As a huge Birthday Party fan I am kicking myself that I never got around to buying this.
ReplyDeleteRalph, that was exactly my reaction when I first heard this about 2 months ago. Henry Rollins has a weekend radio show here in SoCal, and played a few songs. I knew right away I had really missed out on this one. There is another album RH released a few years later, "Pop Crimes," which I will post in the future
ReplyDeleteinstroemen, which EP do you mean?
ReplyDeleteOne of my top ten favorite albums. The album with Nikki Sudden is great. Kiss You Kidnapped Charabanc. Wedding Hotel is just sublime, a perfect song. Rowland does so much side work with other bands and always leaves his recognizable mark. Room of Lights by Crime & The City Solution has Rowland all over it (as well as Mick harvey of BP). Also, Shotgun Wedding with Lydia Lunch is a high point. Lydia and Rowland do a duet of Some Velvet Morning (on Honeymoon in Red) that's a lot of fun. But most important, if you dig this album, check out These Immortal Souls. That's Rowland's main band before the solo album above. If anybody knows where to find a HQ version of I'm Never Gonna Die Again, I want that badly right now. The CD is out of print and kinda pricey.
ReplyDeletepiltdownlad, I have literally everything you listed in your comment. I will post "I'm Never Gonna Die Again" as your request this coming week. I'm also planning to post the Jacobites debut and "Charabanc" in the near future :)
ReplyDeleteI have already posted "Robespierre": http://killingmoonmusic.blogspot.com/2011/04/jacobites-robespierres-velvet-basement.html
Robespierre... sheesh. I spent HOURS last week going through my CDs looking for my copy of that. I coulda sworn I had it. I remember buying it. But poof! Gone. That's when I downloaded the one you have posted :) Thanks! And thanks in advance to all future posts. Currently partial to Lydia Lunch work with Rowland. I have both on vinyl, but I'm replacing all my crap Mp3s. I've seen the flac, I mean light!
ReplyDeletepiltdownlad, Sudden is such an amazingly under-appreciated artist. Oh, by the way, you may have already found them, but I post both Swell Maps albums as well. I'll post your request and the Jacobites' debut later this week :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I saw the Swell Maps. I needed Jane..., so I was happy to grab that. The Jacobites debut has the best version of Fortune and Fame, better that the version on Robespierre.
ReplyDeletepiltdownlad, I've thought about doing a Nikki Sudden series. I think it would a great ride. Maybe next fall. Also, I have the Epic Soundtracks albums; I'll post one of those soon as well
ReplyDeleteThese Immortal Souls actually played three or four more shows after Rowland moved back to Melbourne in 1994. The last one was 1998, supporting Lydia Lunch. And yes, they did Some Velvet Morning :-)
ReplyDeletevoixautre, keep an eye out for 'Autoluminescent: Rowland S. Howard' an excellent documentary about Rowland which has just opened on screened in limited release here in Oz. : http://tinyurl.com/3oqrk4n
ReplyDeleteJust brilliant ... saw it two days ago and can't get it out of my mind ... no doubt will be doing the festival circuit ...
RE-UP PLEASE ??
ReplyDeleteneed this in flac again, my file were lost..
ReplyDelete