Latitude 2018
The Howl & the Hum – Lake Stage at Latitude
Genre: Live Music, Music
Venue: Latitude 2018
Festival: Latitude
Low Down
The Howl & The Hum are a miserable disco who write Bond themes for films where Jimmy is still hung up on that girl. They combine dark hypnotic pop with post-punk influences, pierced with lyrics that make you call your mum the next morning.
Following acclaimed sets at Neighbourhood Festival and Loopallu and a debut tour of the Scottish Highlands in 2017, the York-based 4-piece embarked on their first headline tour in England in early 2018 to coincide with the release of new single ‘Portrait I’. Following this the band are releasing a series of new songs leading up to their first festival season featuring an appearance at Citadel Festival.
Review
In his famous book The Psychopath Test, Jon Ronson describes a psychopath whose house is full of predators. The said psycho explained how he identifies with lions, eagles etc. I only mention this because The Howl & the Hum have a (very nice) song called I wish I was a shark.
The Howl & the Hum have a good name, and give good programme blurb, so here I am. They may or may not be psychopathic. They’re certainly pretty confident. They’re also pretty surprisingly good.
The Lake Stage was always appallingly positioned on an obvious thoroughfare, but the simple, low-cost addition of overhead streamers has transformed it. And not only is this an excellent psychology test, it also allows the numerous fine acts to be better appreciated by a proper crowd. And in my view The Howl & the Hum certainly deserve to be listened to.
This stage is still a good test though. It’s nearly always a new band, and people walking past are, by definition, on their way somewhere else. So if you can draw a crowd like this, you must be pretty interesting.
They’re poppy without being frothy, gothy without being moody, anthemic without being cheesy or bland. They have quirky lyrics about Tesco value something-or-other. I really like them! Ones to watch!
