Album Review: The Growl - What Would Christ Do??

From the opening note of the first track, Eleven, you can tell that The Growl mean business, in the least corny sense of the phrase. Being from the Fremantle music scene, they have the distinctive old-fashioned mind for music, as both Tame Impala and Pond do, which is fitting as vocalist Cameron Avery is in Pond. However, The Growl focus much less on psychedelia and more on blues and 'swamp rock.'

The vocals are hoarse and grungy, like Mark Lanegan or a higher-pitched Nick Cave, but consistently riddled with effects and reverb to create a much older and under-produced D.I.Y. sound. The upright bass gives a brilliant undertone to the old-style blues tunes like Cleaver Lever and The Growl's reworking of Blind Willie Johnson classic John The Revelator.

The instrument usage by the six-piece from WA throws you back to the golden days of blues, as a mandolin and accordion give a solemn melody in the slow and emotional Fee Fi Fo Fum, while the following track, In The Belly Of The Beast is stripped back to just a reverb-riddled acoustic guitar and the eerie vocals by Cameron. This track in particular makes it apparent that this, the debut album by The Growl, was recorded in various locations across Perth, including lounge rooms, a basement and a warehouse. It is that classic D.I.Y. indie blues sound inspired so much by New Orleans and the Southern part of the USA.

Experimentation with traditional sounds on simplistic instruments is what makes this debut album so great. It deserves to be in every blues fan's collection, and is not for those that just want it for the connection to Tame Impala.