Russ - Vocals/Bass
Jay - Vocals/Drums
Lance - Guitar/Vocals
Influences
Sham 69, Cockney Rejects, Sick Of It All, Hank Williams Sr., Cock Sparrer, The Misfits, Sheer Terror, Johnny Cash, Slapshot, The Business, David Allan Coe, The Exploited, Waylon Jennings, Cro-Mags, Eddie Cochran, Willie!
Sounds Like
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Maximum Rock N Roll Review April 2008
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HOWITZER Turncoat EP
Yes sir! The sentiments expressed by the skins and punks of HOWITZER are
even more apropos now that that spoiled, rich hippie from Marin County, John
Walker Lindh, is asking for a reduction in his sentence. These
street-hardened toughs from Florida cut right to the chase. Side A features
a melodic sing-a-long Turncoat, which segues into the fine song Folded
American Flag. These men harness the southern rock spirit of MOLLY HATCHET
while retaining the skinhead rock ¹n¹ roll edge of the TOUGHSKINS. Side B
starts off with the real stand-out track of the EP Life On The Streets.
Fuck yes! This anthem catches the vitriol of ANTiSEEN and kicks your ass
into the next week! Brilliant! Song four, I Just Don¹t Give A Damn borrows
a page from the HAMMERLOCK songbook and pulls it off extremely well! These
rough and tumble fucks scratch their mark in the sand clearly for all to
see! When HOWITZER gets fired up, as they do on Life On The Streets, they
are certainly a force to be reckoned with! Let¹s hear more! (BR)
(Hazard Hill, www.myspace.com/howitzercore)
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NewTimes Broward-Palm Beach Review April 24, 2008
Howitzer
By Jonathan Cunningham
Published on April 24, 2008
When the latest 7-inch release from Howitzer showed up at the New Times office a month or so ago, it was an odd surprise. For starters, most bands don't have enough cojones to send vinyl in the mail. So there's all types of swagger attached to a band that does. Secondly, the artwork for Turncoat, the four-song rocker that they sent over, looks like something out of the American Revolution gone anarcho, and it's both hilarious and utterly ridiculous at the same time. After listening to Turncoat a few times, it's obvious where their confidence (and sense of humor) comes from. It's based on their skill as musicians with a storied past. Having moved here from New England in the '90s, their music is draped in that Boston-style hardcore scene of the '80s and '90s when bands ground so hard that even regional punk bands around those parts were better than most national acts. And you can hear that on the album's first song, "Turncoat", a hard, bombastic opening shot aimed at everyone and no one in particular. It's full of adrenaline, angst, and venom — but it's undeniably catchy, with heavy drum licks and guitar chords that sound like chainsaws. The next cut, "Folded American Flag," goes more toward the conspiracy theory rhetoric from their last LP, Police State, but it's still well-composed and the lyrics clearly sung. Flip the record over, and you get hit with another jewel, "Life on the Streets," which is all surging punk meets metal meets hardcore in a local stew. The slower, more melodic "I Just Don't Give a Damn" sounds like pure barroom drinking music at its best. What's clear is that three lads in Howitzer know how to combine their favorite genres on wax. But they've got a lot more than four songs in their repertoire, and you'll have to catch them live to get a better taste.
Howitzer rose out of the ashes of rock and roll after the inevitable collapse of the once revolutionary music genre. When the shit that passed for punk rock in the nineties was exposed as fraudulent, many of us looked for music that was true to its purpose. For the people, by the people. With influence from hardcore heavyweights Sick of it All, Sheer Terror, Slapshot, along with spirit of ’77 masters The Business, Cocksparrer, and the 4-Skins, Howitzer began to bring back the legendary style and sound of street rock. Originally from New England, the 2 brothers, Russ (bass and vocals) and Jay (drums and vocals), and guitarist Lance have paid their dues in the Dirty South, playing the clubs you wouldn’t let your girl friend alone in or start a fight you can’t finish without a gunshot. With their first release Police State, the band brought to the studio 9 years of material the brothers had under their belts and blew away the hardest of the hardcore fans and the traditional punk rock crowds. Now, the new 7 inch out this winter “Turncoat” Howitzer will establish a new benchmark in street rock and roll. The return of street-level music by the workingman, for the workingman. Check out a show in Miami to see why City Link magazine describes their music as ‘firebomb-throwing, revolutionary lyrics and a brutal assault of thrashy guitars and pummeling drums’
I just read the credits on the back cover...I'm speechless...Thank you all, and thank you for being the only band I wanted to see for my last SoFla show. I love you all so much and you BETTER make a road trip to Chicago, I have a big ass place, spare blankets and air mattresses. I'm going to miss you guys so fucking much.
