Howling Bells

There are a bunch of bands that have an affinity with the Corner Hotel; one such musical outfit is English-based Howling Bells, who return to the Swan Street venue with each return to the homeland. Two years after their last Melbourne jaunt, it was strange to see such a drop in ticket sales, and the curtain cut-off reducing the size of the Corner’s band room meant this would be a more “intimate” performance.

If you’re looking for a new local band to support, both Buckley Ward and Georgia Fair proved to be excellent nominations for a new favourite. The five members of Buckley Ward had stretched themselves across the front of the stage in a line, bookended by keys and drums, and immediately looked delighted to have gathered an attentive crowd early. With plenty of pop rock guitar hooks, band hand claps and jovial attitudes thrown in, it was clear that this was a band excited to be playing at the Corner. Theirs is a “Sunny Rock” sound; that is, it’s upbeat, full of smiles and would slot nicely into your Summer playlists.

Sobering the mood post Buckley Ward was the more serious Georgia Fair, who, with little fanfare, immediately delivered a rich blend of folk rock and country into the band room. Rousing in its delivery all round, Georgia Fair’s music moved through various emotions; at times showing glimmers of cheer or saddening and sombre thoughts, and occasionally even moving into brooding territory. Jordan Wilson’s lead vocals were superb, especially on one track where his accompaniment was no more than a few intermittent notes on the piano and the harmony of band member, Benn Riley. The result was a beautifully simple piece, even despite the ignorant chatter in the crowd, and highlighted a band to keep a close eye on.

Dark, hazy light and the good deal of fuzzy feedback brought Howling Bells to the stage – setting up the atmosphere for an instant reminder of the tainted pop tracks the band deliver. New track Charlatan led the set list, along with a couple more new tracks, and from the moment go, Juanita Stein and co. were in their element; the fresh material clearly giving the band a revitalised energy. With starry lights set up over the drum kit, deep colour transitions on stage, and all members looking like they felt the music, the band hit their stride fast, which was a good thing given the set would be pretty short.

Shadowy tracks and rockin’ favourites then seesawed through the set, almost matching each other one for one as the band dealt its best variety hand. Handling an annoyingly misbehaving guitar strap with confidence, Stein delivered the slow and haunted, A Ballad For The Bleeding Hearts with her ghostly dance before giving her best “rock chick” on Broken Bones - a pair of songs that demonstrated the back and forth nature well. Another pair followed, with Cities Burning Down ironically cooling down the mood, and Setting Sun quickly picking things up and getting the rock heads nodding again.

Interestingly, it seemed that Howling Bells had shunned their sophomore release, Radio Wars, playing no more tracks from it than Cities, which they have been playing since touring their first album, so it can hardly alone represent the album it appeared on. This meant that plenty of older material was on show, and there was lots of room for newies. Given it is the title track for the album and tour, it seemed fitting that The Loudest Engine provide the best “new” moment, pounding its introduction through an almost gothic drum beat, performing the song with fervour then moving to have all members join a kind of psychedelic jam out.

Rounding out the set’s encore was a reading from the ladies room wall (immortalised in a Corner Hotel book) of top bullshit one liners, new track Live On and what is effectively the band’s “it track”, Low Happening. The four played them out with the same vigour they’d shown for the past hour before finishing bang on their scheduled end.

Arguably a better band live than recorded, Howling Bells put on a great performance for their faithful. Maybe it’s the time between drinks that’s dwindled their numbers; if so, let’s hope more regular visits can boost them back to a full house.

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