Howland was a singer-guitarist in the Gibson Brothers and the Bassholes prior to the appearance of his first solo album in 2002, The Land Beyond the Mountains. The record is a tinnily mixed, macabre mix of psychobilly, swamp rock, and Captain Beefheartian avant-garde weirdness, peopled with weird and disturbing images, relaying troubled encounters and stories with a streak of wild-eyed glee. ~ Richie Unterberger