Review: An Horse – Walls

An Horse’s latest album ‘Walls,’ the follow-up to 2009’s Rearrange Beds, is out now on Mom + Pop Music. If you aren’t familiar with An Horse, they are the Australian indie-rock duo of Kate Cooper (singer/guitarist) and Damon Cox (drummer/singer) who met while working in a record store in Brisbane.

Cooper spoke about the previous record as well as the new album, Walls. “With Rearrange Beds, we made a record of two people learning how to play together. I don’t think you can hear that on the album per se, but that’s what it was.” This time, the pair decided to make a record that reflected their bond not just as music aficionados, but as musical collaborators. “Walls was really deliberate,” Kate explains. “We had hundreds of shows under our belt and we had figured out how to play off each other.”

An Horse set out to record Walls in Vancouver after taking a break in their home cities (Cooper lives in Montreal and Cox in Melbourne). They chose Howard Redekopp, who has previously worked with The New Pornographers and Tegan and Sara as well as An Horse (Redekopp mixed Rearrange Beds), to produce the album. You can definitely hear similarities to both of these acts on Walls, more so to Tegan and Sara (in a good way).

The album still has a distinct, consistent style and sound throughout. Walls has catchy written all over it and runs the spectrum from minimalist pop songs to full-on blazing indie rock (still with a Cooper’s pop vocals). The album is a very solid sophomore offering and definitely a must have for anyone into Tegan and Sara or Sleater-Kinney / Wild Flag. Standout tracks include the razor sharp guitar indie rock of ‘Sharply Dressed’ and ‘Trains and Tracks’, and the pop hooks of ‘Airport Death’. Listen below.

Sharply Dressed

Trains and Tracks

For more information about An Horse, visit:
anhorse.com
myspace.com/anhorse