The new Howling Hex does very little in the way of howling or hexing but does kind of lilt along in a strummy, folky, rustic kind of way. Going by the name of Wilson Semiconductors the album sort of hints at cutting edge technology but in fact this album is far from hi-tech as China is to Silicon Valley. In fact it's so non-technological the band's says it best by saying it's one guitar, four songs from out of the desert and into the mountains.
With a minimal approach and simplistic songs, there's nothing complicated about Wilson Semiconductors; you can't really get much simpler than a man and his guitar. That's the problem with this album though, there's just nothing but a man and his guitar and some very long songs. With the four songs totaling 30 or so minutes, there's a whole lot of repetition on this record and a lot of noodling here that will nearly drive you crazy. The first song alone illustrates this perfectly with the same riff repeating into what seems like infinity (or at least 6:20). It, like several other songs, lacks depth despite all the guitar noodles that surround it.
If you can imagine an Appalachian (or dessert) version of a Shreds record (look it up on youtube) you are right where Howling Hex are at...except rather than being humorous this is just how HH's songs are. Monotonous, crazy, and bizarre...Howling Hex kind of gave me a headache...so thanks for that.
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