I expected it to sound like classic rock. Amazingly, after the first minute or so, I couldn’t help feeling like Howlin Rain’s new album Magnificent Fiend is actually a close sibling to the work of love ‘em or hate ‘em jam band Widespread Panic. It takes some bravery on my part to make this comparison, but just for starters, I gotta say that Miller’s voice is very similar to Panic singer John Bell’s. Of course, I essentially just revealed that, yes, I’ve been to a Widespread Panic concert before. I grew tired of their music around the same time I grew tired of the parking lot scene.
Thankfully, I’m pretty sure that the crowd at a Howlin Rain show won’t consist mainly of fratti-os who probably should never have access to a traveling pharmacopial gypsy fair. Even if the music on the album seems similar to jam rock fare, Ethan Miller’s spot as frontman in California psych-rock notables Comets on Fire pretty much guarantees that the crowd at a Howlin Rain show will be comprised of mainly psych-rock indie cognoscenti, and the drooling drunks and wasted run-aways will be following around some other band.
As far as rock bands go, this one definitely has some talented members. The density of the sound and clarity of each contribution makes the end product complex, but with each element having a very discernible, atomized quality. The fuzz and snarl that initially drew me to Comets on Fire is not very present here, and ever since Miller’s voice became something less than an unrestrained sonic howl, I’ve found something missing from Comets’ output. When Howlin Rain, the eponymous debut, came out, I found myself curious and then disappointed. I liked the howl, and when the canines got dropped for the careful chewing of fretted molars, I decided I don’t really need this rock band. My boredom translated to dislike.
So, forgive me if this review lacks the song-by-song run-down you might be craving. I will say that out of all the songs, "Nomads" strikes me as being particularly well done. Miller’s voice sits in its best range for the duration, and with just the right amount of reverb, it actually sounds kinda sweet. I can’t help but wonder why many of these songs seem to be about God, or Jesus, or souls. I guess they’re pretty spiritual out there in California, what with the landscapes and seals and good fruit.
Honestly, though, I'd rather be listening to Magnificent Fiend's antecedents. There is a huge canon of acts and figures that stimulated this product and likely informed the members of Howlin Rain as they stroked their chops and stoked coals in a fireplace full of soaring guitars and roaring keys. The core is a five piece, but with three additional personnel members contributing on some of the tracks, this band sounds bombastic and orchestrated. The Allman Brothers, Deep Purple, Moby Grape, Grateful Dead, Lynyrd Skynyrd even: bands with big sounds and big ideas have existed for a while, and just because Howlin Rain is pretty good at it isn’t enough to make me excited.