Brief reunions notwithstanding, it was fully eleven years that Australian indie-rockers Howling Bells were absent as an operational band, and ‘Strange Life’ lands twelve years after its predecessor, ‘Heartstrings’. Not that the individual members have been idle during that time, with Juanita Stein putting out five albums during this time. It’s fair to say that theirs is a welcome return, and ‘Strange Life’ is better than solid, boasting songs galore and energy in abundance.
‘Unbroken’ crashes in with shades of My Bloody Valentine with a squalling chorus and bridge, but quieter, melodic verses. That dynamic song structure never fails, and makes for a real attention-grabber to open the album. And it’s by no means an outlier. There’s a Garbage-like grunge-pop feel to ‘Heavy Lifting’, while ‘Angel’ leans into a more bluesy direction, while incorporating elements of shoegaze and sweeping theatricality. Elsewhere, ‘Sacred Land’ brings a gritty, lo-fi garage vibe. ‘Dreamer’ spins into drifting, dreampop territory and it’s a space in which the band sound at ease and spend more time exploring on the second half of the album, although ‘Sweet Relief’ jolts back to rocker terrain and wigs out with some psych-influenced guitar work.
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It seems that the time away has done them good: ‘Strange Life’ is varied and imaginative. As comebacks go, this is one of the good ones.
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