''The Loudest Engine'' is the third studio album of London-based Australian indie rock band

Howling Bells Howling Bells are an Australian indie rock band that formed in London in 2004. The band obtained moderate popularity in the United Kingdom following the release of its 2006 self-titled debut album. The lineup consists of Juanita Stein (vocals, r ...

. The album was released through

Cooking Vinyl Cooking Vinyl is a British independent record label, based in Acton, London, England, founded in 1986 by former manager and booking agent Martin Goldschmidt and business partner Pete Lawrence. Goldschmidt remains the current owner and chairman ...

on 9 September 2011 to mostly positive reviews. It was produced by

Mark Stoermer Mark August Stoermer (born June 28, 1977) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the bassist for the rock band the Killers, with whom he has recorded six studio albums. In addition to his work with the Killers, Stoermer has ...

and recorded at

Battle Born Studios Battle Born Studios, located in the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, is a recording studio owned by rock band The Killers. History Established in the late 1990s as Studio Vegas, the studio was taken over by The Killers in 2008. The studio was opened ...

, in Las Vegas from September to October 2010. Howling Bells began writing for ''The Loudest Engine'' more than two years preceding its release while they supported

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

on the

Viva la Vida Tour The Viva la Vida Tour was the fourth concert tour undertaken by British rock band Coldplay. It was launched in support their fourth studio album, '' Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends'' (2008), becoming a massive commercial and critic ...

. The band sought to capture more closely the essence of its debut album, ''

'', and retract from its technically inclined predecessor, ''

Radio Wars ''Radio Wars'' is the second studio album by London-based Australian indie rock band Howling Bells. It was released through Independiente in the United Kingdom on 2 March 2009 to mixed reviews. Recorded at four different studios, it was produced ...

''. Vocalist and rhythm guitarist

Juanita Stein Juanita Stein is lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist in indie rock band Howling Bells. She has younger twin brothers Joel and Ari. Joel Stein is lead guitarist in Howling Bells. Early life and education Juanita Stein was born in Melbourne an ...

was credited for writing most of the lyrical content on ''The Loudest Engine''. The band moved on from all five record labels it was signed to and established an exclusive partnership with Cooking Vinyl. Only one single, "Into the Sky" was released from the album and it was the first Howling Bells album issued as an

LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

. The Australian release and the LP release contain an extra track named "Arrows", which is a demo that was recorded in Sydney. Preceding the release of the album, Howling Bells released a non-physical EP issued via

PledgeMusic PledgeMusic was an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009. It was started to facilitate musicians looking to pre-sell, market, and distribute projects; such as recordings and concerts. It bore similarities to other artist p ...

, titled ''Invisible''. ''The Loudest Engine'' appeared on both the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and the

Australian Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

. Howling Bells characterized ''The Loudest Engine'' as a contemporary psychedelic endeavor which was reinforced by the atmosphere of their time spent in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

. To support the album Howling Bells performed a number of headline shows and opened for both

Elbow The elbow is the region between the arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and the media ...

and

The Killers The Killers are an American rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingd ...

. Following this period of time, bass player Brendan Picchio left the band and was subsequently replaced by Gary Daines.

Background

Howling Bells wrote most of the material for ''The Loudest Engine'', while they were on the road supporting

in May and June 2009.Thompson, Jody (17 May 2011)
"Howling Bells Say the Killers' Mark Stoermer 'Became Like a Band Member'"

Spinner Technology *Spinner (aeronautics), the aerodynamic cone at the hub of an aircraft propeller * Spinner (cell culture), laboratory equipment for cultivating plant or mammalian cells * Spinner (computing), a graphical widget in a GUI * Spinner (MIT Med ...

AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo (2017� ...

. Archived fro
the original
on 18 May 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011."Howling Bells past concerts"
Songkick. Ian Hogarth, Pete Smith, Michelle You. Archived fro
the original
on 13 April 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2011. Note: User required to navigate numbered tabs at bottom of page. The band returned to Australia later that year and rented a house in Valla Beach to use as a rehearsal space for their new material. Although the band expressed that the album was very much a communal songwriting process with input from drummer Glenn Moule, bass guitarist Brendan Picchio, and guitarist Joel Stein, Joel's sister

was recognised for writing most of the song lyrics on the album. Note: Interview was removed from its host site. Alternatively, it can be downloaded fro
here
"The Loudest Engine" (the title track) was written about the tour bus that the band used while they toured Europe with

Mercury Rev Mercury Rev is an American indie rock band formed in 1989 in Buffalo, New York.
Original personnel were Note: Interview was removed from its host site. Alternatively, it can be downloaded fro
here
Juanita referred to ''The Loudest Engine'' as a modern psychedelic record, and one that was more folk and rock than their previous two releases, but which felt like a continuation of their first record, ''

''. On three separate occasions in 2006 and 2007, Howling Bells appeared as the opening support act for

. They connected well with all members of the band, but especially with bassist Mark Stoermer.Von Pip, Andy (29 September 2011)
"Howling Bells ''The Loudest Engine'' Special – Album, Gig and Interview"
The Von Pip Musical Express. Automattic. Archived fro
the original
on 23 October 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2011. He and members of Howling Bells discovered that they shared a similar taste in books, film, and music. At the time that the band considered potential producers for the album, Stoermer proposed to Howling Bells the idea that he produce it. The band members liked the concept of a fellow musician as the acting producer, so they agreed. Note: Interview was removed from its host site. Alternatively, it can be downloaded fro
here
It was Stoermer's first experience as a record producer.newsdesk (14 June 2011)
"The Killers today announce two very special warm-up shows at Londonʼs Scala"
Music-News. Publishing Group Network. Archived fro
the original
on 21 June 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2011. Howling Bells expected the album to be released in 2010, but the record label(s) that the group was previously signed to, which included the UK-based Independiente, preferred the band to write material that it did not so desire. Note: Interview was removed from its host site. Alternatively, it can be downloaded fro
here
This forced Howling Bells to relinquish from all five of its label partners and proceed to record without being signed to a record label. Note: Interview took place on 2 September 2011.

Production & ''Invisible'' EP

Recording sessions for ''The Loudest Engine'' took place at the Killers' Battle Born Studios, in Las Vegas, from September to October 2010. The album was recorded with a

Studer Studer is a designer and manufacturer of professional audio equipment for recording studios and broadcasters. The company was founded in Zürich, Switzerland, in 1948 by Willi Studer. It initially became known in the 1950s for its professiona ...

A820 2" 24-track

reel-to-reel Reel-to-reel audio tape recording, also called open-reel recording, is magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording tape is spooled between reels. To prepare for use, the ''supply reel'' (or ''feed reel'') containing the tape is plac ...

analogue tape machine.Howling Bells (September–December 2011). "Invisible'' EP – Howling Bells EP''". M4V. Video footage. Loudest Engine Ltd. Las Vegas. 25 October 2011. ^{''a b''} 00:07, ^''c'' 3:00, ^''d'' 1:25, ^''e''3:23. After Joel insisted that the album be recorded to tape, Stoermer sought and acquired the recording unit. The band decided to not record anything that they could not perform live, referring to their last album ''

'', which was very electronically oriented. Members of the band stated that they had a lot more freedom than ever before in the studio, which is one of the reasons they chose Stoermer as a producer. They knew as a musician that he understood the importance of letting a band just play music instead of pressuring them to push their instrument or sound elsewhere. Stoermer researched autobiographies of record producers, including the book, ''

Recording The Beatles ''Recording The Beatles'' is a book by Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew, published by Curvebender Publishing in September 2006. Written over the course of a decade, the book addresses the technical side of the Beatles' sessions and was written with the ...

'', to use as technical reference points for recording the album. While not recording, the band members at times ventured onto

The Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city ...

, but they also made an effort to experience Las Vegas as locals rather than merely a tourist destination. Howling Bells believed that their Las Vegas surroundings infused the spirit and the ambience of the desert and very much affected the outcome of the music. They spent time jamming on

Doors A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security b ...

and

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

songs, whereupon Stoermer joined them, sometimes filling in on drums. Stoermer also brought his collection of

Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

and

cult films A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in ...

into the studio late at night and entertained the band with the old movies. Techatticup Mine

Photography for ''The Loudest Engine'' was by Heather Hyte, a friend of Stoermer's who spent a lot of time with Howling Bells in Las Vegas. At the end of the recording sessions, the band asked her to take pictures of them in the desert. She also did post-production work and embellished the photos with an array of psychedelic colors. The album was mixed by Robert Root at Battle Born Studios, and was mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound, in New York. In 2011, Howling Bells were for the first time under contract to a single record label, after they signed with the UK-based

. ;''Invisible'' EP Prior to the release of ''The Loudest Engine'', Howling Bells released a downloadable EP issued through

, dubbed ''Invisible''. It contained four audio tracks plus a short behind the scenes video of the band's recording sessions in Las Vegas.Ng, Justin (11 March 2011)
"Howling Bells Announce New EP and London Show"
Entertainment-Focus. Archived fro
the original
on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011. Two of the tracks, "Invisible" and "Arrows", were included on ''The Loudest Engine''. The latter, a demo recorded in a house in Sydney, was included on the LP and Australian releases only."Howling Bells – ''The Loudest Engine''"
Shock Entertainment. Regency Media Pty Ltd. Archived fro
the original
on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011. The two other tracks were "Midnight Cowboy" and "Crossroads", a demo recorded at GFI Studios, in

Ontario, New York Ontario is a town in the northwest corner of Wayne County, New York, United States. The population was 9,778 at the 2000 census, and 10,136 at the 2010 census. The town is named after the Great Lake on its northern border. The town has a ha ...

during the

. ''Invisible'' was released on 9 May 2011, on the last night of a short three-date stint of the UK to promote the EP.

Singles

One single was issued from ''The Loudest Engine'', "Into the Sky" (July 2011). Juanita wrote the lyrics herself while in Sydney, about someone close to her that she missed who was constantly travelling. The instrumentation for the single originated when Juanita created a guitar riff and played it to Picchio, at which point he composed the bass parts.

Lindsay McDougall Lindsay "The Doctor" McDougall (born 9 March 1978) is an Australian rock guitarist and radio presenter. Since 1996, he has been the lead guitarist in punk rock band, Frenzal Rhomb alongside lead singer Jay Whalley. He has co-written songs with f ...

, guitarist for

Frenzal Rhomb Frenzal Rhomb are an Australian punk rock band that formed in 1992 in Sydney. Three of the group's albums have entered the top 20 on the ARIA Albums Chart: '' A Man's Not a Camel'' (1999), '' Hi-Vis High Tea'' (2017) and ''Smoko at the P ...

and

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

radio presenter, noted to Juanita as he interviewed her for his radio show, that the song's bass line resembled that of "The

Peter Gunn ''Peter Gunn'' is an American private eye television series, starring Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn with Lola Albright as his girlfriend, Edie Hart. The series aired on NBC from September 22, 1958, to 1960 and on ABC in 1960–1961. The seri ...

Theme". The accompanying music video was directed by Ollie Murray, and filmed at a studio in North London in July 2011.

Release and reception

''The Loudest Engine'' was first released in Australia on 9 September 2011, and in additional countries in the weeks and months that followed."Howling Bells – ''The Loudest Engine"''
MusicBrainz. MetaBrainz Foundation. (2011). Archived fro
the original
on 1 November 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2011. Note: To verify ^''b'', click "Howling Bells" and then "Releases" tab. It was the group's first album released as an LP after the rights were licensed to the vinyl only record label, Music on Vinyl, out of the Netherlands, which issued it as a high quality 180 gram audiophile LP."Howling Bells – ''The Loudest Engine'' (MOVLP459)"
Music on Vinyl. Mark van Rixel. (2012). Archived fro
the original
on 5 January 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012. The second week of its release, the album appeared inside the Top 30 on the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

, and just outside the Top 150 on the regular

."2011 Top 40 Independent Albums Archive – 24th September 2011"
OCC.

The Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

. Archived fro
the original
on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.Zywietz, Tobias (24 September 2011)
"Chart: CLUK Update 24.09.2011 (wk37)"
Zobbel.de (originally from OCC ∞ The Official Charts Company). Tobias Zywietz. Archived fro
the original
on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2011. It appeared on the

, in the physical release category just inside the Top 100.Wallace, Ian (27 September 2011)
"The ARIA Report"
. ARIA.

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...

. (1126): 8. Archived fro
the original
on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011. Note: A free, open-source original online document for this reference does not exist. In this case, the original is from Pandora Archive and was preserved there on 30 September 2011. Chart placement represents ARIA Top 100 Physical Albums. Corresponding with the release of the album, Howling Bells played a six-city tour of the UK. They opened shows for

throughout Europe in November, and following this performed headline shows in Australia in December. After the Australian tour, Picchio left the band and was later replaced by English bass guitarist Gary Daines. The next two years Howling Bells held a sparse schedule of eight shows. They performed at the 2012 Hop Farm Festival and supported The Killers for a series of shows in February 2013. ''The Loudest Engine'' received mostly favourable reviews from music critics, but there were a certain amount of music critics who felt otherwise and consequently panned it. Upon its release, Chris Phillips from the Live at the Vault show on BRfm 97.3 called it one of the best albums of the year. Luke McNaney of The Music Fix rated it 8/10 and praised the album, using terms like "swooning melodies", "beguilingly sexy rock", and "prowling guitars". He appreciated the final third of the album the most, and declared "the band have proved their belltower remains a den of intoxicating noise." Scott Causer of

Contactmusic Contactmusic.com is an online magazine of cultural criticism based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, and ...

rated it 7/10 and expected to hear Stoermer produce an album full of indie anthem pop songs, similar to those of The Killers, but was surprised to instead hear a darker creation. He ended his review by stating that "Howling Bells are one of the most interesting bands in the world right now and should be cherished as such." Tom O'Donovan of V Music acknowledged that Juanita stood out from her female-fronted counterparts and praised her vocal capacity for its diverse range. He referred to ''The Loudest Engine'' as "a promising record displaying a real maturity." Denis Semchenko of ''Rave Magazine'' rated the album 3.5/5 and noted that the opening track "Charlatan" and lead single "Into the Sky" were among the band's most distinguished guitar riffs yet, although he thought the album would have benefited from more stylistic diversity. Chris Jones of The Line Of Best Fit said that "at times ''The Loudest Engine'' falls flat", but labelled it "periodically enjoyable nevertheless". He too cited "Charlatan" and "Into the Sky" amongst their strongest efforts to date, and credited "Don't Run" and "The Faith" as the most tuneful songs from the album. He designated it to be a strong EP's worth of material but felt that the album as a whole fell short. Jones concluded his review by stating "Howling Bells have more than earned our patience and show enough here to encourage its retention – the worry is whether they’re starting to run out of chances." Chris Lo of

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

expressed positive feelings towards "The Wilderness" and "Invisible", but referred to "Gold Suns, White Guns" as a "

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights", ...

-aping misstep", and claimed that overall the album felt "laboured and, at worst, contrived." He finished his review by asserting "Instead of capturing the essence of the dusty trail, on this album they are struggling just to avoid the middle of the road." Sophie Williams of Stereoboard liked the vibe of "The Loudest Engine" (the title track), but was another critic who mentioned that the album seemed flat, and adding that it felt "almost distant". In the end, she accused the band of "trying to be a genre they are not."Williams, Sophie (19 October 2011)
"Howling Bells – ''The Loudest Engine'' (Album Review)"
Stereoboard. Eyedigit Ltd. Archived fro
the original
on 21 October 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2011.

Track listing

Personnel

Howling Bells members *

– vocals, rhythm guitar *Joel Stein – lead guitar *Brendan Picchio – bass guitar *Glenn Moule – drums, percussion Production *

– producer *Robert Root –

mixing engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

*Greg Calbi –

mastering engineer A mastering engineer is a person skilled in the practice of taking audio (typically musical content) that has been previously mixed in either the analog or digital domain as mono, stereo, or multichannel formats and preparing it for use in distr ...

*Luke Insect – design/illustration *Heather Hyte – photography

Charts

Release history

Notes

References

External links

''The Loudest Engine''
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

* at Xanthein {{DEFAULTSORT:Loudest Engine 2011 albums Howling Bells albums Cooking Vinyl albums