Review Summary: How now brown…horse? 🐴
Continuing in the grand tradition of country influenced bands with ‘horse’ in the name (Crazy Horse, Sparklehorse, Band of Horses, etc) are Brown Horse - so far so predictable but does their approach to music hold some surprises? To put it bluntly, not really, but this thar colt is no ‘soon to be nag’ ya hear.
Here we have an alt country framework that finds space to work in some old school country rock, some barroom band vibes and even a few cheeky soft rock influences. This sound also leans in heavy on a ‘90s brand of ‘alt’ at times and that’s why frequently I’m reminded as much of Live’s singer Ed Kowalczyk as I am with any country star.
We need to spend more time with the vocals as they’re pushed front and centre in the mix and they’ll be a deal breaker for many; as much as this won’t be my favourite vocal performance of the year the style does warm on you over repeat plays, but they really did need to smooth out after a middling first impression. As creaky as Will Oldham and only one billy goat shy of a Stevie Nicks, this voice is achy breaky and oh so shaky.
So at the final judgement - yay or neigh? Well if you can get into the vocals enough then this is worth persevering with, as the quality of the writing on soulful tracks like the standout ‘Shoot Back’, along with the sense of authenticity in the instrumentation elsewhere, becomes more apparent over time. Saddle up.
