The Growlers play the Slowdown to promote new album

It’s hard for a band to draw a crowd on a Tuesday night in the metro area, especially one that’s not well known here. However, the Growlers brought in a sizeable crowd to the Slowdown on Feb. 5 and provided everyone a rambunctious time.

The Growlers left their home state of California on a nationwide tour to promote their new album “Hung at Heart.” Released on Jan. 22, 2013, “Hung at Heart” is their third studio album. Dan Auerbach, from the Black Keys, initially produced their album, but the band didn’t like it and decided to re-record everything themselves.

It is difficult to describe the Growler’s musical style as it is a combination of many genres. They could be described as surf, punk or indie rock with elements of rock music from the 60s and psychedelic music.

Their music is very danceable with ambiguous lyrics and heavy effects. They use special audio effects for their vocals and instruments. The Growlers made up a new name for their style of music, “beach goth.”

“I mean, people were calling us that for so long and then people started bringing it up in interviews and whatever, and I was like, ‘All right, we’re beach goth!’” singer Brooks Nielson said in an interview with music blog Aquarium Drunkard. “And you know it gets annoying trying to explain what your band sounds like.”

The other bands that played with the Growlers were Jaill and Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas. Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas played a high-energy set with their singer Hernandez bouncing around the stage.     
According to her online biography, Hernandez is from Detroit and studied at Colombia College before dropping out to pursue music. After being a solo act for a while, she brought together a cohesive band, the Deltas, which is now her backing band.

“I’m trying to create songs that can make people feel really sad and really happy at the same time,” Hernandez wrote in her biography. “I really like a lot of darkness and a lot of Gothic style and things that are very eerie but have a real soulful, beautiful element to them.”

Next was Jaill, who got the crowd dancing to their poppy, upbeat songs. Jaill is a band from Milwaukee.   The band was formed while the members were in college and, after multiple lineup changes, Jaill was signed to Sub Pop Records.

The national record deal set them off on a tour of North America and Europe. While talking to the crowd, their singer, Vincent Kircher, said that Omaha would be Jaill’s last stop on the American part of the tour so they could go back to Milwaukee before heading to Europe.

After the opening bands, the Growlers started off by playing songs from their first album “Are You in or Out.” A crowd of about 20 danced in the front and even more enjoyed the show from the sides and tables. They played many songs from their other albums and only a few from their newest one.  
A few members of the crowd even got on stage to dance while Nielson playfully wrapped them up in his microphone cord. After playing for about 45 minutes, the Growlers made to leave. However, the crowd cheered them back for an encore of their most well-known song, “Sea Lion Goth Blues.”  Overall, the show was a successful night of dancing and great bands.

After the show in Omaha, the Growlers continued west, ending their tour in Salt Lake City. They will start a European tour in March, hitting Germany, Spain and France.  
To check out the Growlers, Jaill or and Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas, visit their respective websites: www.thegrowlers.com, www.subpop.com/artists/jaill and jessicahernandez.net