rowland s. howard (1959-2009)

rowland s. howard onstage with the birthday party
first avenue/minneapolis april 1983

in the days since guitarist rowland s. howard passed i've been listening to a lot of the older records that he appeared on.

i love his playing on all of the birthday party studio records but whenever i spin them i'm overwhelmed by the monstrously aggro AND catchy bass work of tracy pew (who is also no longer with us).

rowland was a great foil in the birthday party; especially when the band was hitting on all cylinders-- "6 Inch Gold Blade", "Junkyard", "Cry", "Nick The Stripper", "Figure of Fun" and "Happy Birthday". but live and during the recording of their four Peel Sessions the man's work was incendiary. seriously, now... "Rowland Around in That Stuff"!

the crime + the city solution records are good and a little more reserved (though not necessarily restrained) than the birthday party records. better yet were "these immortal souls". for this group rowland, partner/wife(?) genevieve mcguckin, brother harry, and friend epic soundtracks circled their wagons and came up with a couple of personal records that are sneakily sincere. a writer from sounds magazine nailed it when he described their first lp as "an antagonism between fatalistic despair and defiant optimism"

"Most groups seem to have a really one-dimensional approach to things, they either present everything as being really base and vile or they're completely the opposite. You really have to try to have a song with all those elements, then you can have a song that's incredibly evocative of sadness and still has optimism in it as well. Otherwise, ultimately, it's one-dimensional."
Rowland S. Howard -- Sounds magazine 12/12/1987

there's also a one off record rowland recorded with nikki sudden called 'kiss you kidnapped, charabanc' that i enjoyed revisiting. "enjoyed" even during harrowing moments (ie "crossroads" or "don't expain"- billie holiday cover). it never gets too dark when rowland is playing the acoustic bass, slide guitar or harmonium.

rowland s. howard 1959-2009