Trippin’ with Howlies is a legitimate trip through rock ‘n’ roll time. The album starts with “Sea Level”, a subdued 70s punk-esque song, continues on into “Smoke”, a 1960s, Beatles in India type track and then proceeds into “Howlies Sound”, a 50s rock meets doo-wop song with the added bonus of a Chuck Berry-like guitar solo. Howlies were clearly inspired by rock ‘n’ roll greats. Their album reeks of imitation from such famed acts as the Kinks, the Beach Boys, James Brown, and the Ramones, to name a few.
Though on this album, the Atlanta, GA band mates were not just trippin’ through time. The psychedelic cover art and the incessant lyrical drug references are a reinforcement that the Howlies are truly just trippin’. With two leading vocalists, Howlies make it easy to jump from a Lennon-like singing of “So just come over, we can smoke” to the 50s male-pop vocal whining of “I don’t appreciate the way he skews my chick with expensive trips and cocaine hits” or the rebel-not-quite-singing of “Gonna spend money, smoke and drink, gonna find a girl, do the natural thing.” Howlies successfully make drug references in all their ranging rock forms.
However, their lyrics can be more far-reaching than the usual rock ‘n’ roll sex and drugs clichés. On “Chimera”, the most modern of the Howlies tunes, an everyday singer-songwriters voice croons, “We are walking on a flowerbed of rhythm every time the sun shines.” It is this stylish lyricism and intelligent blending of older genres and rock styles that make Trippin’ with Howlies a very fun listen.
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