Howler, America Give Up. RELEASED JAN. 17. In the first 40 seconds of “Back to the Grave,” opening song on America Give Up, Howler has given us what I felt as a Velvet Underground reference (“What goes on…”) connected to a garage-rock vocabulary (“…when you’re under the ground), connected to a beat simultaneously reminiscent of Bauhaus, Stones and Ramones that shifts into a commercial-rock harmony chorus thing for a moment, then happily descends again. A couple minutes later, we’re onto the next song, “Told You Once,” which opens with acoustic strums; stick with it, and the deep vocals and funny lyrics come in, and you’re ultimately rewarded with a fine surf-rock guitar solo. Howler keeps you guessing for the whole album—songs range from “Wailing (Making Out)” to “Pythagorean Fearem”—but what keeps them linked is the quintessential savage rock & roll beat, the very reason why America should NOT give up. Just howl.