Aside from the infectious and energetic garage-rock style of its music, Scowl Brow’s greatest strength is the honesty of singer Robbie Hale’s lyrics. He’s tackled his own loves, growth and family pains in the past and this six-song EP is no different.
“… whatever I did made me the bad kid/Dad used to beat me up cause the Holy Spirit told him to do it; I started having sex on the school bus, and I tried killing myself with my homemade drugs,” Hale sings, giving the listener a heavy-handed portrait of a rough childhood from the opening track. Other songs mention cocaine, Xanax, Molly and marijuana without hesitation. The weight of his lyrical content is that you don’t have to easily relate to Hale’s portrait to feel like you’re living it just the same.
He’s also not afraid to give a frank perspective, even if it’s far from politically correct. “Tell me what the hell is going wrong in this town, every day there’s more pussy hipsters around/you never know who’s straight or who’s off suckin’ some dudes,” Hale sings on “Mediocre My Ass,” a line that’s sure to draw plenty of criticism for its honesty.
“Cold Dirty Bed” is a solo acoustic song that once again showcases Hale’s storytelling and raspy vocals.
Scowl Brow isn’t the band you want to listen to for a polished portrait of life that you’d get from a Disney child star. Rather, it offers the backstage or ringside seat view of a person who’s been bruised and battered and only grown stronger for it.
This article appears in Best of Charlotte 2014.
“”Tell me what the hell is going wrong in this town, every day there’s more pussy hipsters around/you never know who’s straight or who’s off suckin’ some dudes,” Hale sings on “Mediocre My Ass,” a line that’s sure to draw plenty of criticism for its honesty.”
Honesty? So you, Jeff Hahne, Creative Loafing, share the view? And all non-straight people suck off dudes?
The “honesty” I refer to is the singer giving his own honest opinion. That is not an endorsement of his viewpoint.
Sounds like the reviewer is “off sucking some dudes” aka the singer of this terrible band
“He’s also not afraid to give a frank perspective, even if it’s far from politically correct. “Tell me what the hell is going wrong in this town, every day there’s more pussy hipsters around/you never know who’s straight or who’s off suckin’ some dudes,” Hale sings on “Mediocre My Ass,” a line that’s sure to draw plenty of criticism for its honesty.”
If I can be “honest” for a second, I fail to see how homophobic straw man attacks are “honest” in any way, shape or form. This band is completely awful and this reviewer is an embarrassment to music journalism for polishing this turd.
I think hipster is a little butt hurt bc he/or she fits in the category of a hipster pussy 🙂 don’t like it? Don’t listen we have plenty of fans and amazing fans at that. Our songs are not written based on our VIEWS or beliefs. They are fully true stories that have actually happend. Stop looking for things to complain about,
sounds like bobby hill over here is getting mad at the hipsters for takin his chicks. bitter southern prick
My brother sent me this album and it was hard to get through; mediocre is a nice way of putting it. This rough n’ tumble rocker music sounds tired and formulaic. It may contain “real” substance but the delivery is as stale as a house band that doubles as the bar flies. The lyrics span from suburban to trailer park realities. It would take a copious amount of whiskey to get me through a show.