The Thousands

On Pop Crimes, Rowland S. Howard’s second solo album, there is a level of considered restraint present. There is a tension that runs throughout. It appears as a wire pulled so taut that it would be dangerous if it were to be released.

And that is the beauty of this album. The interplay between the classic pop stylings of the songs and their darker underbelly. The danger presents itself almost as much in what is absent as in what is on display.

Howard expounds upon traditional rock n roll themes like love, religion and loss, across a series of songs that take their cue from such diverse sources as 60s girl groups to spaghetti westerns. The result is an album that is at times achingly beautiful, sneeringly sinister, and indignantly sexy but always it remains intelligent and visceral.