Jono Moulds checks out the new EP from The Howling Tides for The Rock & Roll Circus. 'Blue Moon' is due out on 18th November 2022.
Dynamic, award-winning, 4-piece hard rockers The Howling Tides announce their brand-new, 5-track EP, ‘Blue Moon’, which will be released on 18th November, full of the ‘Tides trademark visceral energy and tsunami of hard rock sound.
The Howling Tides are made up of: Rob Baynes (lead vocals/guitar); Hayden Kirk (guitar/backing vocals); Adam Brewell (bass/backing vocals); and Steven ‘Herbie’ Herbert (drums).
In the words of Planet Rock, “The Howling Tides are a gimmick-free band who play muscular rock delivered with brute force.”
They’ve built their rep and momentum with some powerhouse releases and with high-profile festival successes at Steelhouse, Planet Rockstock, Rock and Blues and Bloodstock.
As Bloodstock pointed out, “Since they first appeared on the UK music scene in 2018, The Howling Tides have quickly earned a reputation as a ferocious live act who have more in common with The Almighty and The Wildhearts than the young new wave of Classic rock scene. Their high-energy approach is a breath of fresh air to an industry overpopulated with bands that all tend to sound the same.”
One mark of The Howling Tides’ success was their Young Blood Award from HRH VI (2021).
What’s more, The Howling Tides have opened for Black Star Riders at the legendary Rock City in Nottingham. Playing there was a dream come true for the band’s members. They’ve also ventured onto the Continent and played gigs in the Czech Republic, which the band felt marked a big milestone for them.
The Howling Tides were also invited to join the mighty Ricky Warwick and The Fighting Hearts on their tour in 2022. Ricky Warwick himself (lead singer of Black Star Riders and Thin Lizzy, and frontman of The Almighty and more) sings their praises: “The Howling Tides are one of those unique bands that when they come along remind us why we fell in love with rock ‘n’ roll, and why we still are.”
Maximum Volume Music echoes Ricky’s praise for the ‘Tides: “Recently, I’ve reviewed a few of the new breed of British Rock. Allow me to humbly suggest that this mob might be the best of the lot.”
The ‘Tides themselves are delighted to announce the new EP: “As a band, we really feel that our new EP is the next exciting step in our journey and will help make the statement we really want to make.
We feel it’s important to always build on what we’ve done, and because our ethos is to always be comfortable pushing boundaries, we really feel that our newest music is building on the sounds and vibe of our first EP and is pushing it skyward in terms of writing and musicianship.
We don’t really want to be the kind of band that just keeps delivering the same song with different lyrics, we feel we have much more to offer…and this is just the start.”
An intro that immediately sends out an almost ‘Floyd’ vibe, hails welcome to the first tune on this 5-track EP, that being ‘Thalia’. As the intro bounces back and forth between the speakers, this ‘sprightly and short-lived’ intro is quickly cast away, to be taken over by a sharp and solid drum fill, that creates the pathway for the palm muted guitar riff to take over the reins. Entering verse one, my first port of call is to check out ‘Baynes’ vocal. On the evidence of this first tune, I can report with some confidence that it’s ‘strong and forceful’, which bodes well for what’s to come.
OK, back to the track, the riff predominantly dominates throughout, but there is a lovely variation to note around halfway through, as the introduction of a second guitar (all Wah effected), takes the feel of the song into a different place, all funky and ‘70’s sounding – love that. Keep an ear to the ground for some tuneful and clever drumming from ‘Herbert’ – more percussive than straight ahead rock, but certainly adds value to this tune. A guitar driven bridge is quickly crossed, that brings in a solo that permeates a half guitar and half-crazy synth vibe - unusual but works a treat. A more than solid start – Boom!!
‘Cut Your Losses’ explodes into life by the means of a crisp sounding snare drum salvo, but it doesn’t take more than an instant, for the almost ‘Zeppelin’ style guitar riff to come to the fore. The first verse is a mixture of strong power chords, interspersed with more of that classic sounding Rock Riffage. ‘Baynes’ produces another vocal performance that feels right at home amongst this style of tune, straight ahead and no nonsense, that’s for sure. Perhaps that’s a little unfair, as I’m loving that extra guitar segment right at the end of the verse. It takes it somewhere a little more interesting. Not sure if I’m hearing a chorus or a bridge, but there is certainly movement away from that silky and catchy guitar rifforama that takes the song strongly forward – ‘Torch the neighbourhood – run like I thought you would’. As we hit a musical break, ‘Baynes’ takes the vocal to the centre stage, albeit briefly, to lay the foundations down for the guitar solo from ‘Kirk’ which sounds superb. Straight after this, there's a nice change of riff to lead us back into that chorus/bridge. This is a top quality, classic rock tune and I for one love this – right up my street – Brilliant.
A change of vibe, as ‘Fortune Never Favoured Me’ begins with some beautiful sounding ‘Blues’ guitar (a shape of thigs to come), which certainly showcases both ‘Baynes’ vocal (albeit at a lower register and restrained) and ‘Kirk’s’ guitar skills. There’s a bit of a tip of the hat to ‘Whitesnake/Thunder’ in the tunes intro – very laid back and smouldering. There is certainly a build up/undercurrent happening here, that feels like the song could come brimming into life at any stage, which it does (to a degree, at least) as we head into the chorus section. Here there is more of an emphasis on some overdriven guitar coming into play, just to give it a little more bite and atmosphere, but never ‘drowning’ the section and losing that elusive feel. After this, further verse sections have some delicate and nicely placed organ/keyboard added (well, it is a blues track after all). The first solo of the tune emerges, which is as subtle and soulful as the supporting music, absolutely breath taking. The second solo kicks-in as we build-up the intensity at the end of the first, and this time it’s big, but at the same time, it never loses sight of the song’s roots, which are born out where it all this started – outstanding playing. Great song well produced and sounds awesome.
Another slow-paced start, where more ‘bluesy’ sounding guitars slide and cast their spell that introduces us to ‘Blue Moon’. ‘Baynes’ joins in with a distant and echo laden vocal, that starts to develop and becomes the catalyst for the tune. This very quickly rips through the rock gears, and as if by command, that initial smokescreen of blues-based control is swiftly packed away and a mighty riff is brought forth. However, that wonderful, frill packed guitar work is taken over by a far more basic intro into the verses, as sustained chords and drums work in tandem, and leaves the appropriate amount of room for the vocal to sit at the front of the queue. The pre-chorus takes things up a notch though, and before we know it, we’ve got another batch of riffs to deal with, that stretch, with ease, into the chorus – seamless!! ‘Blue Moon hanging on the horizon’ - Solid as……. well, a rock! A well-arranged and cleverly put together guitar section acts as the bridge, as snare drum rolls seem to go forever, and there is even some ‘chant like’ vocal added. We end with some ascending and descending guitar that puts the icing on this ‘blues based’ tune.
‘White Crow’ completes this 5-track EP, and once again, the band dip their toes into ‘blues’ bayou and come up with another delicious slide guitar intro, but this is transformed very swiftly, as we move into an all-out onslaught, as the very same riff becomes gnarly with angry sounding guitar and bass tandem, as the band crash in for one more outing. Moving into the first verse, riffs are replaced by concentrated, overdriven power chords, while ‘Baynes’ sings his heart out, all fiery and with serious intent on the job at hand – a fine performance. The song is relentless, as silky guitar lines are added between the spaces, whenever possible. The punctuated “Zeppelin – Good Times, Bad Times’ style bridge sounds great and sets up a superb solo from “Kirk’ that has all that ‘blues’ sound in abundance, adding extra flavour to the tune and the song – great playing. The bridge is followed, by a slower and stripped back segment, that also gives the song some further credibility and certainly builds it up to a brilliant crescendo, with some outstanding and tone drenched guitar. Now this is what I call an impressive way to wrap up, what I consider to be a stunning EP.
Well, what do we have, in summary. Stating the obvious, but I’ll state it anyway, these songs are born out for the bands love of the blues (OK, that’s out of the way). However, it’s never quite as simple as that, you still must deliver, and this 5-song EP delivers big-time. Each song has been written and arranged seriously well, with the bonus of some top-notch production, that positively brings out the power of the instruments with clarity and balance.
Each member has some serious chops, from great vocal through to super Lead/bass guitar work and impressive technical drumming/percussive work, that gives each song something outside the norm. What a treat to listen to, and encouraging that bands are still writing and performing classic blues based Rock. Only downside, it was just 5 songs. Here’s looking forward to more top tunes from a band most definitely on the up.
Review by Jono Moulds
Track Listing + Production Notes
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Thalia
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Cut Your Losses
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Fortune Never Favoured Me
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Blue Moon
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White Crow
Recorded at Superfly Studios, Nottinghamshire
Engineered by Andrew Banfield
Produced by The Howling Tides and Andrew Banfield
Additional Production by Oli Brown
Mixed and Mastered by Oli Brown
Artwork by Andrew Morgan of Morgan Creative
Socials :-
Facebook - The Howling Tides
Instagram - The Howling Tides (@thehowlingtides) • Instagram photos and videos
Twitter - The Howling Tides (@TheHowlingTides)
The ‘Blue Moon’ EP can be pre-ordered through The Howling Tides’ website store — https://thehowlingtides.noisemerchants.com — where you can also get your hands on some exclusive bundled deals, which include the repress of the band’s very first, self-title EP and an exclusive T-Shirt.
Ceri Davies
Presenter and Co-Director
