“I know my voice is rough,” acknowledged Growlers’ ringleader Brooks Nielsen on Sunday evening. “This is the end of the tour, so I earned this rough voice.”
His voice, already torqued with enough nasal twinge to make Gordon Gano cringe, added a scarred grit that whined like a gunked-up engine. That fit with the SoCal sextet’s shambolic style even more.
Starting late, Growlers ran through their 12-song set at a fast clip, kicking it off with the slippery cow-pop psych of “Big Toe,” lead track from last year’s fifth LP, Chinese Fountain. “Hiding Under Covers” likewise warped a Western surf lope as Nielsen shuffled playfully across the stage and the sloppy jangle of “Sea Lion Goth Blues” upped the tempo.
Growlers’ self-described “Beach Goth” tunes slide between the slurry, lackadaisical nuggets of the Strange Boys and psychedelic vibes of War on Drugs. They’re cut against guitars that peal with a dusty southwestern swirl set against a backdrop of ocean waves. Likewise, Nielsen’s lyrics and lazy drawl plays perfectly into the listless malaise of songs like “Dull Boy,” whose island rhythms contrast a claustrophobic pull.
The boozy “Black Memories” and burst of “Someday,” plus the ska-inflected “What It Is” and warped turns of “The Moaning Man From Shanty Town” twisted through an eclectic if unstrung reach of styles, but closing jams “Drinkin’ the Juice Blues” and “Empty Bones” tied together more effectively without sacrificing the band’s seemingly casual and indifferent aesthetic.
This article appears in November 6 • 2015.
