If you were going to choose anyone to update those old Ennio Morricone soundtracks that brilliantly helped to set the tone and tension of those Leone spaghetti westerns back in the day, Hollow Howl would be way up on the list of people to call. “Horse Epic,” their latest, has everything that such a score would need – resonance 50’s infused guitars that just hint enough of a Tex-Mex destination, Old World folk vibes sprinkled with New World blues and country flavors, and vocals that seem to come from a European 40’s chanson place as they do modern epic voicescaping.
But it is what they also bring to the mix that makes for a brilliant update on the sound. Here, their guitar vibes and depth-charge bass lines spill over into a post-punk place, the vocals hint at a working knowledge of Siouxsie and the Banshees and the air of apocalyptic desert blues that hangs over the song would give Cave and Ellis cinematic work a run for its money.
And few, apart from the aforementioned Nick and Warren do this as well as Hollow Howl; perhaps only the likes of Nero Kane can compete. Actually, the track is so good (and having bent a sneaky ear to their back catalog, it is not alone) that I would suggest that an up-and-coming filmmaker should take their music and use it as the inspiration for a yet-to-be-written film script and re-invent the spaghetti western for a whole new audience.
Any takers?
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