In their first album, Howlin, Jagwar Ma, a duo from Australia, experiments with odd noises and electronic ambiances that slow down and lose quality halfway through the album. The lyrics presented don’t offer anything brilliantly poetic as half of the tracks focus on danceable beats. The album is like two records in one: an upbeat, happy-go-lucky dance album and a dreary, post-break-up album. After the first half, the album shifts into songs that begin to use similar tempos and vocal production.
The album starts off with an intro song, “What Love,” that has a steady groove of layered beats and voices that build as the song reaches an end. It’s a great start that creates wonder in the upcoming tracks. “Uncertanity” has clashing chords and light vocals that ask, “how can you look so gloomy,” meshing with an upbeat rhythm.
“I don’t even care if you’re in my head / You’ve got something / Show me what / So why should I care,” vocals carelessly say over an electronic tribal beat in “The Throw.” At this point in the album, Jagwar Ma has created a fun, beat-driven album that’s slightly changed by “That Loneliness,” a throwback to classic doo-wop songs of the 50s. The production is toned down even more in “Come Save Me” which features a begging chorus. It’s a simple song of desperation with a classic beat and guitar riff.
“Four” completely jars the flow of the album, yet it makes it interesting and exciting. It’s strictly electronic, using vocals as beat. The lyrics are indistinguishable and grainy, letting the beat do all of the talking. But after that, the album loses steam with “Let Her Go” and “Man I Need.”
“Did You Have To” is the slowest song on the album. Too slow, as if it doesn’t belong on the album at all. The end of the album, “Backwards Berlin” ends in monotonous sounds much different from the beginning.
With a stronger consistency and less songs, the album could have been more entertaining. It’s as if they were just fiddling with electronic sounds and got tired of them throughout the album. But it was their use of those electronic sounds that made the first half of the album much better than the droning of the second half.
You can stream the album below: