Live Review: Pop Crimes: The Songs Of Rowland S Howard

There would be few better ways to kick off a tribute to sorely missed guitarist Rowland S Howard than a groove-rock set from his brother’s Harry Howard & The NDE project. The group’s Velvet Underground style of repetitive post-punk, combined with Harry’s resemblance, brought back real memories of Rowland’s genius.

After a short shift in on stage line-up, Harry was then joined by Mick Harvey under the Young Charlatans moniker to perform a set of some of Rowland’s earliest composed tunes. The rare gift of seeing Harvey shred on the guitar was only bested by the surprise inclusion of Birthday Party classic Several Sins.

Long-time Rowland collaborator JP Shilo then joined the stage under the These Immortal Souls banner, which brought the noisiest and fiercest post-punk of the night. Shilo’s guitar work is a thing of total wonder: angular, crushing and entirely true to the innovations that Rowland championed throughout his career.

The nominal headlining act of the night, Pop Crimes, featured a collection of the night’s performers and a revolving door of vocalists, including Harry Howard, Ed Kuepper, HTRK’s Jonnine Standish and Magic Dirt’s Adalita, who delivered a set highlight with a mournful version of Boys Next Door classic, Shivers. Standish provided some of the best work of the night, with her vocals serving as a gorgeous female equivalent to Rowland’s own sorrowful crooning. The band performed a wonderful medley of tunes pulled primarily from Rowland’s two excellent solo albums, with highlights Pop Crimes and Wayward Man showing off the quality of the night, which eschewed the notion that this was a night of cover songs, or even a tribute to a sorely missed icon of underground rock. This was a celebration of challenging and excellent alternative music. The ultimate irony of the night, of course, is how enthusiastically well received it all was; a far greater reception than Howard received at the time he was performing these fantastic songs.