Kev Howell is a Glaswegian musician with a rock and blues background, recently releasing a live EP titled Live. I always think this sort of music benefits from a live setting, so the EP gives you a proper chance to listen to Kev’s music in all its raw beauty! Hopefully you’ll want to catch one of his live dates after listening to it too!
By Jane Howkins
Live consists of a short 6 song set, with Snipers Blues starting things off nicely. You can hear the crowd in the background, giving the music a real feel. The riffs open the music up, having a hard rock/blues sound, before Kev’s heavy vocals start. The track is a little raw sounding, but this helps to make it sound more genuine, and the crowd really seem to react well to the music on offer!
Kamikaze opens with an eerie guitar riff, allowing Kev’s vocals to shine through over the music. The band sound quite tight as the main guitar riff weaves its way in and out of the music, slowly ramping the tension up over the course of the song on this grungy banger. It gets a whole lot heavier later on, although the guitars are still the star of the show throughout.
Distance sounds a little mellower, featuring a spidery guitar melody played on a clean sounding guitar, showing another side to Kev’s music. It makes for a nice musical break, and the crowd stays completely silent for the majority of the track, showing them to be enraptured by what they’re hearing. It’s great to hear Kev bringing out a more melodic side, showing an artist capable of working within multiple styles.
Black Tooth takes things down even further as it’s an acoustic number. It sounds really beautiful in all its stripped-down glory, allowing Kev’s vocals to soar over the gorgeous folky stylings of the song. It’s still got a bluesy flavour, with an intensity that is often hard to portray on an acoustic guitar, showing just how passionate this artist is for his music.
Arrows brings the music back up to its rock and roll roots, opening with a slow, drawn out electric guitar melody. The fuzziness is back, as the guitars slowly build the music up, alongside the vocals and a steady kick drum beat. However, the chorus is fairly slow still, with little guitar motifs branching out in an eerie manner afterwards.
Nightbird is the closing song of the set, showing the crowd whooping with joy at the start, before the music properly starts. This is more of a classic rock banger, as the EP ends on a high note. The riffs have a huge intensity to them that can only really be heard in a live setting, showing just how capable Kev and his backing band are.
Live is a cracking EP, making me want to go and see Kev Howell perform live, as I’m sure from listening to this he would put on a great live show! Rock and roll certainly isn’t dead!
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