After creating a buzz around Milwaukee with their debut release To The Trees, Juniper Tar is back with a well-crafted EP that’s sure to establish them as one of the region’s premier rock and roll acts. The fivesome’s latest studio effort, The Howl Street, is a haunting collection of songs laden with three-part harmonies, dark piano, and affecting lyricism.

Their slow, melodic Americana is reminiscent of contemporary folk acts like Fleet Foxes, while their fuller sounds present an ebb and flow that’s comparable to My Morning Jacket. The UWM Post caught up with lead singer Jason Mohr to discuss the new record, Americana music, and the meaning of Juniper Tar.

The Post: How did Juniper Tar’s current lineup come together?
Jason Mohr: We’ve all been friends for a while, but came together slowly as a band in
late 2005 after Aaron Schleicher (guitar) returned home from Los Angeles, Tuc Krueger (drums) returned from San Francisco and Ryan Schleicher (bass) returned from New Orleans. Chris Demay (piano) joined us just before our first record came out in 2008.

Post: The title of the collection, The Howl Street, pays homage to the studio you recorded at in Bay View. What was the recording process like for this EP?
JM: Since we’ve been playing most of these songs live over the past year, it was easy to enter the studio and just play them live, keeping overdubs to a minimum. It was a great change having access to an incredible sounding room and an upright piano.

Post: Are there any musical or lyrical themes that are consistent in The Howl Street?
JM: For the most part, the EP is one single theme of renewal and starting-over. Although the songs were written over a longer period of time since our last record, they all sort of naturally came together as one story from start to finish.

Post: Bands like yours identify with the Americana genre. How does your sound fit in with that category?
JM: Because we’re a group with five completely different overall musical interests, our influences come together in a sort of unspoken way when we arrange our songs. The term Americana doesn’t really make sense to us, but we’re willing to accept it. We really consider ourselves mostly a rock band, the same way Neil Young and Sonic Youth are just rock bands.

Post: What is the significance of your band name, Juniper Tar?
JM: There’s no significance. We think it’s just a name, but we should probably work on making that more interesting, right?

Post: Any future plans with the band beyond this release?
JM: This EP is just the beginning of us releasing much more material this year. We plan on having a full-length ready to go by this summer. We also plan on touring more than ever. Next month we’ll be heading south to Austin to play SXSW.

Juniper Tar will celebrate the release of The Howl Street with a 9 p.m. show on Thursday, Feb. 18 at Club Garibaldi in Bay View.