From the city that brought you the Replacements and the ears that brought the world The Strokes and The Smiths, Rough Trade Records is excited to announce the forthcoming debut album from HOWLER. America Give Up is set for release on January 17, 2012. Howler is the brainchild of 19-year-old frontman Jordan Gatesmith. Last winter, Gatesmith had been playing guitar for the Minneapolis band, Total Babe. But the overwhelming desire to create his own songs, in his own band, prompted him to hole up with his laptop and a guitar and within weeks he had written the tracks that became the genesis for the band’s debut EP This One’s Different. Almost as quickly he found the people to play them with. Joining Jordan in Howler are Ian Nygaard (guitar), France Camp (bass), Max Petrek (keyboards) and Brent Mayes (drums). The band began playing out in Minneapolis and it wasn’t long before Rough Trade Records founder Geoff Travis heard about Howler, saw them play, and signed them to the label. This sudden onslaught of attention began in the UK, with glowing praise from the NME and BBC radio, followed by a month long U.S. tour, and the recording of America Give Up.