King Horse presents a very different Baby Brave to their clumsily titled 2012 debut EP (deep breath) The Hornet’s Nest of Unrequited Ambition That Was 1960s Vogue. They’ve since lost a singer and the suffix “…and the Love Bites” but gained an affection for some noisier influences. That’s not to say there’s none of the Camera Obscura-style swoon pop of their previous record on King Horse, it’s just swathed in fuzzy feedback.
Lead track Oyonnax is deliriously catchy with a riff reminiscent of Elbow’s more upbeat moments bolted onto jangly indie pop, singer Emmi Manteau’s wide eyed vocals to the fore. Second track Colours shows off their noise pop wares with a driving rhythm section and unexpected French second verse. I’ve no idea what she’s singing about but she sounds narked about something. Jitters’ slightly twee lyrics, all joie de vivre and rocking horses, hark back to their previous record, but the way they are layered up with warm, shoegazey guitar parts creates something far more interesting. The weird shoegaze influences continue with the hazy drone of closer Wrists, the circular drum tattoo pushing the record into altogether less familiar territory. “It is dark now”; it certainly is.
Wrexham’s music scene is booming at the moment, with Sparrowhawk’s indie rock making waves and the four part harmonies of Heal The Last Stand stronger than ever, but King Horse marks Baby Brave out as the best of the bunch. This record does what all the best EPs do and leaves you wanting more, which is handy because the next one is apparently ready to go. Lovely stuff.
Release Date 01/08/2014 (Drum With Our Hands)
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Like all cis-male atopic half Welshmen, I'm a big fan of shouty indie, noisy drone and the daytime Radio 1 playlist. Outside of punk rock my primary interests are tea (white no sugar please) and beer (brown no sugar please). When I'm not writing about stuff for Silent Radio I'm occasionally doing my own stuff which you can read about at http://dead-pheasant.blogspot.com if you want (you should).
