Once again, Ethan Miller reaffirms his standing as a faithful keeper of the fire. Within a refashioned Howlin Rain, Miller returns, on Watermelon, to celebrate two decades of the Bay-Area throwback rock ensemble on a collection of nine, deep-track covers. Thematically, the LP succeeds both as a playground of celebratory homages to the iconic sound of the ‘70s, as well as a seasoned reminder of the guitar-saturated joy that defines Howlin Rain.
What better way to open the fun than with “Silver Paper,” from Mountain, and led by the forever torn and frayed voice of a guesting Chris Robinson. Whether with the Black Crowes or in any of his various solo incarnations, Robinson has been the finest frontman of his generation. Coupled with a brother in style and taste such as Miller and his fuzzed-up guitar, Robinson, here, is at his bell-bottomed best.
Robinson reprises his role later in the set, on Todd Rundgren’s “Black Maria,” another apt vehicle. Not before, though, Miller makes lovely work of “Jesus Was A Cross Maker,” and then, with new guitar counterpart Jason Soda, revives the Crazy Horse vibe on “Fall Away.” There is, too, the balladry of Moby Grape’s “I Am Not Willing” that softly penetrates the ether, and David Nance flipping Fairport Convention’s “Possibly Parson’s Green” into a speedy highway rocker.
The final third of the album grabs Ty Segall for Scott Walker’s “30 Century Man,” which can’t help but play like Howlin meets The Kinks. “If I Were A Carpenter” gets its groovy going, accentuated by Jonny Niemann’s tickling keys, amidst a patient pacing. Wrapping up the set, Miller taps “Rosali”- winking as it closes the circuitous route; from Mountain to Mountain Bus- and its Grateful Dead-inspired jam that lopes off into the tie-dyed sunset.
As a return to action, Watermelon is an easy-breeze listen from Howlin Rain, even without another chapter of Miller’s fantastic songwriting. In reverences to the era, it is a thoughtfully curated effort that, at once, pays its tribute to an influential past while regenerating Howlin’s present. It’s an album of loose jeans and love, rumbling guitars and bubbling bongs, waterbeds and turntables. Let it all rain down.
