Werewolf Rock: The Brook & The Bluff Howl on New Album

The Brook & The Bluff went a little Ozzy Osbourne and barked at the moon on its newly released album, Werewolf.

“I’ve been making everyone do a wolf call,” says vocalist-guitarist Joseph Settine.

The Nashville indie group felt that rock needed a little shot in the arm, so pulled from more old-school influences while recording its fifth record. It was also laid down live, something the four-piece hadn’t attempted before, but felt right given the raw edge of the album. And ten years in, it’s exactly what Settine, guitarist Alec Bolton, drummer John Canada and keys player Kevin Canada needed.

“We just wanted to get back to finding ourselves as a band and group and do we want,” Settine shares. “We were all just listening to a bunch of classic rock at the time. It felt like the right direction to go. It felt natural for us to take that step.”

Rock has always been in the Brook & The Bluff’s DNA. On Werewolf, it bares its teeth.

“We were listening to Tom Petty a bunch and Creedence. We wanted to have a title that felt like if you were sitting down listening to a bunch of classic albums, that Werewolf could slide right in in sound and title,” Settine adds, explaining that the title track had already been written before it became the official banner. “Not that’s it’s an album that’s on any of these levels, but if you were sitting down listening to Rumours or Abbey Road or The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, those titles all sound epic, and we wanted something that sounded the same.”

Settine’s being humble about the ten songs the band composed into its refreshing modern rock full-length. While it sounds familiar, Werewolf tackles current topics, including toxic masculinity, ego and male fragility.

“The general feeling of, like, dudes kind of suck sometimes,” he says, referring to single “Super Bowl Sunday.” “It’s like, guys will do anything but face the thing that they need to face right in front of them — like, ‘But the game’s on.’”

He admits it’s more introspective than outwardly projecting, as Settine did some soul-searching after a long-term relationship dissolved.

“My life changed a lot. I think whenever you have a big change like that, and your life becomes completely different from what you imagined it would be, it’s natural to reflect and look at where you were then and what you went through and how you feel about it on the other side and what you’ve grown from,” he says. “There’s definitely that element of transformation and growth and trying to always evolve.”

So Werewolf works perfectly, in that sense. Plus, the first two singles — “Super Bowl Sunday” and “Baby Blue” — came out on full moons. Now on tour, the Brook & the Bluff is howling across the country.

“People are already knowing the lyrics. It’s hitting home in a good way,” Settine says. “It’s always good to know. I think everyone always get to points where they feel alone or the only person who’s ever done this, then you realize, no, people have been around for a long time, it’s hard to come up with a unique scenario.”

That’s part of the reason why he considers the sets they’ve been playing on this current run their strongest yet.

“It flies by, in a good way. The songs play themselves. It’s felt that way the whole time,” Settine concludes. “We’re trying to keep this Werewolf train rolling. Maybe we need to look at the cycle.”