Howless' compelling dark-dream pop laden debut To Repel Ghosts shines in a crowded field

No doubt realising they are operating in a broad genre amongst many skilled peers, there’s still relatively few artists offering the mystical something extra that elevates them above the fray.

Describing themselves as, “noise pop/shoegaze” the recorded evidence shows they are much less niche, adding at least as much post-punk and dream pop to the equation. It also highlights the almost arcane futility of locating the sometimes imagined dividing lines between musical genotypes.

You may well fall in love surprisingly quickly as the urgency of opener “Fade Out” quickens the pulse with Cure-esque dynamics plus harmonies recalling the much missed School of Seven Bells. After painting such a rich and detailed sonic picture they are then confident enough with their art to send the song hurtling to a raucous conclusion.

First single “Levels” swiftly follows and is a heart tugging anthem that channels vintage New Order, bolstered by fuzzed-up guitar and a catchy as hell alternating vocal refrain.

But here we press pause: Such musical touchstones point toward the fraught nature of operating in a world where Bandcamp is almost overcome with musicians adept at producing familiar sounding ear candy that winds up more pastiche than anything else. If you are going to risk it then as well as memorable songs you need to add depth and feeling or we wind up with yet more style over substance.

So how do Howless fare?

Well, these are certainly the kind of carefully constructed songs with hooks to spare that many bands would kill for but maybe just as importantly they sound genuinely driven by the band’s response to the ever deepening age of anxiety that surrounds us all right now. It makes sense to see To Repel Ghosts trailed as an album of ‘nervous foreboding’, many a snappy phrase gets thrown at the wall in a press release but here there’s a resonance that rings true.

Howless may not reinvent any genres but it doesn’t matter when they make music this ridiculously assured, melodic and varied. Someone whispers, “lo siento” after the music finally fades, but there’s nothing to apologise for. Dark but never gloomy, To Repel Ghosts is a massively playable debut and definitely more than a mere genre exercise.