HOWLIN RAIN - Live Rain 2LP

This double album showcases the most honed and bombastic Howlin Rain line-up to date: songwriter Ethan Miller (lead vocals/guitars), Earthless’s Isaiah Mitchell (guitars/backing vocals), Drunk Horse’s Cyrus Comiskey (bass/ backing vocals) and Raj Ojha (drums).

“A great rock guitarist needs a signature affectation. Ethan Miller’s happens to be an abrupt up-strum that, combined with a backward stagger, probably makes him something of an onstage hazard to his bandmates. When he really gets into it, as he does with elemental regularity, the Howlin Rain leader resembles a spasmodic marionette under the influence of a power greater than himself - call it the power of rawk. With his long, thinning hair and big black beard, Miller also sometimes resembles a defrocked rabbi on the run. And when he opens his mouth, the history of classic arena-rock vocals passes before your ears in a full-throated wail, embracing the combined spirits of Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Leslie West, Greg Rolie and the ghost of Freddy Mercury.” - The Village Voice