The Growlers

One Liner: Strokes-esque garage rock with a touch of psych in their older (and better) catalog
Wikipedia Genre: Surf rock, psychedelic rock, garage rock
Spotify Says Similar To: Ty Segall and Black Lips
Home: Costa Mesa, CA

Poster Position: 9
Slot: ?

Thoughts:  Their Spotify bio is heavy on the fact that these guys are psych pop like the 1960's, heavy on classic rock and surf rock.  Which I hear some of, but really they seem to be all over the place to me.  "Dope on a Rope" sounds so much like a Cure song I think they should sue.  "When You Were Made" sounds more like a slow, synthy Strokes tune.  Six albums, 2009's Are You In Or Out, 2010's Hot Tropics, 2013's Hung at Heart, 2013's Gilded Pleasures, 2014's Chinese Fountain, and 2016's City Club.  That is a lot of output for a short period of time (and it says to me that they should be more selective in what they release). Six of their top ten songs on Spotify are from the most recent album, with the most popular being "I'll Be Around" with just over 3 million streams.

That tune reminds me more of an uptempo Dr. Dog song than anything else, but as I've gone through this album, more and more I hear the Strokes fingerprints all over it.  Listen to "Too Many Times" and try to tell me that this is psych rock instead of a Strokes B-Side.

Right?  Down to the vocal effects they use on the voice, much less the guitar stylings.  So I've spent pretty much this whole day meandering my way through the band's catalog, and I gotta say that I like the older stuff more than the new album.  And now, after hearing it on the new album, it all reminds me of The Strokes, now that I have that lead singer affect in my mind, I can't shake it.  Their most listened to track overall is from 2013's Hung at Heart, and is called "One Million Lovers."  It currently has just over 6.5 million streams.

When I first started listening to these dudes the other day, I thought I was really going to like them, but the more I've listened, the more apathetic I've become to the full catalog.  I think I need to take a break and go to something completely different for a few days and then come back to these songs. Hold please.  So after letting these guys marinate for a while, I still feel the same way.  Give me their older tunes.  Since I suspect they will be excited about the new direction of the band and wanting to play the new stuff, I'll probably go see something else instead.

Recommend?  Probably not.