If
Magnificent Fiend, the second album by
Howlin Rain, sounds like a different band made the record, it's not the brown windowpane working its sickly magic on you, it's in many ways an accurate perception.
Howlin Rain is
Ethan Miller's side project when he's not playing with his "other band,"
Comets on Fire.
HR's self-titled debut was released in 2006. It was well-received for its taut, simple song structures that evoked everything from
the Grateful Dead to harder, more riff-laden big rock & roll power plays. It was loud, proud, and topped off with just a touch of country and blues.
Miller, bassist
Ian Gradek, and rhythm guitarist
Mike Jackson remain from the band that made that album, while drummer
Garrett Goddard and multi-instrumentalist
Joel Robinow (keyboards, harmony vocals, and "horn") complete the quintet. There are a few guests filling out the proceedings as well:
Matt Waters and
Scott Knippelmeir guest on saxophone and trombone, respectively, and
Eli Eckert participates on guitar and bass in places. The music here is much more complex. These are still identifiable as rock songs, but there are spaces in them that evoke the harder edges of improvising rock acts like early
Steppenwolf,
Delaney & Bonnie (at their most rockist), and even
Quicksilver Messenger Service. But this isn't necessarily a throwback group at all, and
Magnificent Fiend is its own affair. It is louder, wilder, bigger, and more live sounding than the records made by any of those bands. These songs are knottier, building on the more elemental riffs and melodies of the previous set and creating something denser, more immediate, and menacing in the process.