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Rowland S. Howard
Pop Crimes

Rowland S. Howard’s first album in 10 years is well worth the wait, writes TREVOR BLOCK.

And so, with some discreet fanfare, the new Rowland S. Howard album is finally here. It’s been all of 10 years since his last album, Teenage Snuff Film, and while he certainly hasn’t been idle since, it’s good to have something substantial to back up his recent live performances. In case you were wondering, yes, it’s well worth the wait.

With Mick Harvey (drums) and JP Shilo (bass/violin) backing his own guitar and vocals, Howard creates a series of intimate, stripped-down scenes. The overall effect is not of sparseness, more of a lack of unnecessary ornamentation. Nothing here is superfluous, and the album comes across as an exercise in mature restraint. Every line, every note seems to be precisely what’s needed to move the song along, with no time or energy wasted on needless detail. Having said that, there seems to be a switch built into these songs that Howard hits when the mood takes him. It’s usually around the chorus, where a few accented chords or maybe a key or tempo change lifts the song from the simple to the ornamental. This effect is most noticeable on second track ‘Shut Me Down’. With a touch of echo and some ringing guitar leading into the chorus (“I’m standing in a suit/As ragged as my nerves”) the mood changes from ’60s spy movie theme to something altogether richer, almost reminiscent of classic girl-group pop.

Howard doesn’t mince words either, as the dense imagery of the title track attests (“I guess that I won’t see you tomorrow”/On this, our planet of perpetual sorrows”). There’s no dumbing down here, and the effect is anything but po-faced. Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood may be part of the inspiration behind ‘(I Know A Girl Called) Jonny’ (a duet with HTRK’s Jonnine Standish), but it’s hard to imagine Sinatra singing about putting her fingers in Hazlewood’s mouth.

“Every line, every note seems to be precisely what’s needed to move the song along, with no time or energy wasted on needless detail.”

In keeping with its biblical origins (“Blessed art thou among women”), ‘Ave Maria’ is an aching love song, albeit one about love found, recognised and subsequently lost. Incidentally, ‘Wayward Man’ gives some pointers to the sort of behaviour that would cause any woman to walk out: “I do all my best thinking/Unconscious on the floor.”

There are two covers included here. Howard’s take on Talk Talk’s ‘Life’s What You Make It’ is an amazing bass-heavy monster that fits in with the tone of the album perfectly. In addition to being an excellent track in its own right, it does what a good cover version should: it shows the original in a new light and stamps a degree of personal ownership on the song. Also included here is ‘Nothin’, a strangely bitter and sardonic lament originally recorded by hard-living singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt.

The album closes with the storming ‘The Golden Age Of Bloodshed’, which is full of graveyard wit and includes an updated list of bad omens to watch for: Catholic girls with Uzis, saints surrounded by chemical halos and “a harsh new brand of aftershave, that gives you that thousand yard stare”. As always, salvation is possible through the love of a woman.

It’s worth mentioning that Pop Crimes comes beautifully packaged, on CD and vinyl, with excellent photos by Kes Band’s Karl Scullin, among others, and a wardrobe credit for Howard to boot.

I have been listening to this man for 30 years now. And despite the 10-year gap between albums, this collection is not a return to form. He’s never lost it.

+

Pop Crimes is out now through Liberation Records.

  -   Published on Friday, October 16 2009 by Trevor Block.
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Your Comments

JunkiePhil  said about 3 months ago:

Vinyl out now?


SpringRain  said about 3 months ago:

i think i read it's out on monday. can't wait to hear it....


kuroneko  said about 3 months ago:

Same here. Can't wait to get my mitts on a copy of this album.


juice_terry  said about 3 months ago:

Wasn't shut you down on Snuff Film as well?


SpringRain  said about 3 months ago:

best place to get it in sydney (vinyl)? will repressed have it?


SpringRain  said about 3 months ago:

Wasn't shut you down on Snuff Film as well?

yeah an old recording came as a bonus track on a re-issue didn't it?


shaun  said about 3 months ago:

Repressed will probably have it. If nic.rulz is working ask him what he thinks of RSH :)


SpringRain  said about 3 months ago:

do i have to say 'hey are you nic.rulz?' that would be embarrassing


Ben  said about 3 months ago:

it's out!

such good news


juice_terry  said about 3 months ago:

Shut you down my original vinyl of Snuff.

10 years and all im in for are new songs and some covers!


LaxCharisma  said about 3 months ago:

Oh boy....can't wait to get this.


anonymous  said about 3 months ago:

3/5 in the smh today.


juice_terry  said about 3 months ago:

I'll stop wingeing now but I ment to write:

5 new songs and 2 covers


SpringRain  said about 3 months ago:

but 'life is what you make it' was amazing at atp. can't wait to hear it again


LaxCharisma  said about 3 months ago:

IS it just me or do the b/w posters for the Sydney (and I guess everywhere else) shows make Rowland look a hell of a lot like Johnny Thunders.


Ash-showoff  said about 3 months ago:

Yes!


JunkiePhil  said about 3 months ago:

They have it on LP at missing LINK.
$30 with a CD copy and a poster.
YES!


Ash-showoff  said about 3 months ago:

Excellent article / interview with Rowland in this week's Inpress...


Ash-showoff  said about 3 months ago:

They have it on LP at missing LINK.
$30 with a CD copy and a poster.

Shit. That's good!


Block  said about 3 months ago:

JunkiePhil said 2 minutes ago:
They have it on LP at missing LINK.
$30 with a CD copy and a poster.

CD copy or a download code, JP?


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LaxCharisma  said about 2 months ago:

NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

...wait I wasn't going anyway but still...NOOOOOO!!!!!!


SpringRain  said about 2 months ago:

fuck, this album is amazing


LaxCharisma  said about 2 months ago:

Yes SpringRain. It is.


jjst  said about 2 months ago:

sorry about. i've told it before. nothing've got. it's strange about this site. just my questining. what's the blood group he's(rowland s. st.) got? does someone know?


jjst  said about 2 months ago:

to luck charisma(s. a.). if u've got no answer can't u just dont replay?.. thanks mite


FrankieTeardrop  said about 2 months ago:

That's pretty intimate information, jjst. It's unlikely that anyone here would know the answer to your question or would post it on a discussion forum.


Block  said about 2 months ago:

I have it on good authority he's G flat negative.
Now fuck off, OK?


basil seal  said about 2 months ago:

anyhow. i bloody love that duet with jonnine standish. it's one of my favourite songs of the year.


LaxCharisma  said about 2 months ago:

Fuck yeah. I love this album. LOVE IT!!!


Zac  said about 2 months ago:

this album is perfect!

i love the guitar sound


snowwhite  said about 2 months ago:

Wow, I just received this album with the CD for my birthday. CD on repeat, Vinyl into the vault to emerge pristine in 20 years!


steveholt  said about 2 months ago:

Given recent cancelling at Homebake, is the Northcote Social Club gig likely to go ahead?


Zac  said about 2 months ago:

i'm assuming it was the flying aspect of doing homebake that was advised against.


Block  said about 1 month ago:

Hmm.


Block  said about 1 month ago:

Hmm.


bosmaa  said about 1 month ago:

Rowland S. Howard regretfully has to announce that due to his ongoing serious illness, he has been forced to cancel his performance at The Northcote Social Club (Northcote, Melbourne) scheduled for this Wednesday December 16th. Rowland has asked that apologies be extended to fans who have already bought or who were intending to come along to the show. He hopes to be able to reschedule this performance sometime in the New Year. Patrons who have purchased tickets for this event should take their tickets to the point of purchase in order to arrange a refund.


JunkiePhil  said about 1 month ago:

Bum.
Merry Christmas and a happy new year R.S.H.
Get well and well see ya soon.


steveholt  said about 1 month ago:

Sad news.


Block  said about 1 month ago:

Apparently he's been admitted to hospital.
crosses fingers, toes


Texaco  said about 1 month ago:

positive thoughts. positive thoughts. positive thoughts.


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Tracklisting
  • 1.   (I Know A Girl Called) Jonny
  • 2.   Shut Me Down
  • 3.   Life’s What You Make It
  • 4.   Pop Crimes
  • 5.   Nothin’
  • 6.   Wayward Man
  • 7.   Ave Maria
  • 8.   The Golden Age Of Bloodshed
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