An Horse - Not Really Scared (Album)
» Tegan & Sara - Enmore Theatre, NSW - January 8, 2009
» Intercooler - Zoo, The, QLD - January 19, 2008
Brissie duo An Horse (Kate Cooper and Damon Cox, from Bris-bands Iron On and Intercooler respectively… and yeah, that’s right… it’s ’an’, not ‘a’ – grammar be damned!) have been hanging around the local scene for a while, but with the Not Really Scared EP - their first official release – and a US tour under way it seems like there might be bigger things afoot.
While this is a duo, it seems to be Cooper who carries most of the weight for guiding the An Horse sound – this is indie rock with a strong feminine bent. Cooper’s vocals provide the lynch pin for most of the songs. Her voice, while not exactly strong, is wielded with confidence and a cocky swagger that results in an off-beat, unique charm… fortunately this is also backed-up by some decent lyrics (part teen blogger and part sing-along, anthemic rock).
This is far from being a solo project though – Cooper’s guitar riffing is fleshed out with sweet harmonies and some pretty fantastic drumming on tracks like the rolling Warm Hands and Camp Out. However, it’s the opening track, Postcards, that’s easily the highlight of the set – it’s jerky riffs and stop-start rhythms play off against the vocals to hook you in from the start, but it then breaks into a chorus that will have you singing along involuntarily in no time. The songs on Not Really Scared are thickly layered - particularly the closing track, Shoes Watch, which builds and builds to bring a thumping end to the set with an explosion of drums and guitar noise.
This is pretty simple stuff and parts of the EP are fairly unremarkable, but An Horse definitely have that ability to create songs that’ll burrow their way into your skull and lay in wait… ready to secrete their melodies into your sub-conscious when you least expect it. Enjoy!
