Ausie pop-rock duo An Horse’s latest effort Walls explores the ever fertile thematic grounds of the long-distance relationship with bubbly pep, sincerity, big guitar hooks, and some killer drumming. It’s a perfect summertime respite from the overly-shinny sounds emanating from passing car’s radios.
An Horse frontwoman Kate Cooper appears to have taken some ques from tour buddies Tegan & Sara when it comes crafting self-pitying songs that still maintain feminine strength. Walls is almost overwhelming in its earnestness. The sentiment is carried not only by Cooper’s voice, but the choice details she emotes. The lyrically specifics she uses help ground the songs in a diary writing reality. In part this is due to some of the songs not really making total sense (bear with me on this point.) The album’s opener “Dressed Sharply” is essentially a song about written letters – only it focuses heavily on style of dress. The chorus’s key lyric is “A yellow shirt and a blue jacket” and the song ends with the refrain “Dressed so sharply, you know I will read, every word that you send me.” Now that’s not a logistical flow (I myself can read letters perfectly fine slumming it in basketball shorts and an old t-shirt), but as a songwriter, making that choice and delivering it so honestly clearly indicates it’s importance. Because An Horse commits to a line like this it doesn’t seem silly or frivolous. The situation holds true on “Not Mine” with the line “You said alright, that’s enough Twin Peaks for one night.” It doesn’t seem like merely a heady way to tie together a rhyme, but instead feels like a page torn from Cooper’s experience.
However, not all of the Cooper’s writing works. “No This, We’ve Noticed” attempts to work as a slow emotional build about a friend’s issues, but is undermined by it’s repetition. The main line – “Know this, we’ve noticed that you’re not fine” – is clever on its first pass, but when the phrase is repeated 13 times it becomes unbearably grating.
An Horse does a terrific job mixing song feels on Walls. Cooper has spunk in spades, and her bite and quick tongue helps carry upbeat numbers like “Tracks and Tears” and “Airport Death.” Her guitar tone also aides in this respect; it’s somewhat reminiscent much cleaner version of Alkaline Trio’s ripping guitar sound. As the album progresses, the songs tend to fall into a lovely and comforting hushed sweetness (“Windows In the City”) that does it’s best to force the corners of your mouth into a soft smile.
Another endearing aspect about Walls is Cooper’s occasional lapses into her Australian accent. On “Walls” and “Brain on a Table” the accent comes in heavily on certain words with “or” and “aw” sounds. All becomes “aw-ll,” for becomes “fo-our,” and asking becomes “aww-sking.” These vowel elongations even further warm the listener to Cooper coos; they’re adorably cute.
Just when things seem to have cooled down for good, “Leave Me” comes with furious driving speed. The song underscores how important Damon Cox’s drumming is to An Horse’s sound. Cox really grasps the drummer’s role in the two-piece dynamic. Not only is his playing air-tight rhythmically, but it also works dynamically to add more melody and fullness to the band’s sound. Cox’s performance on Walls is enough to put him into the conversation of underrated rock drummers.
Walls is a collection of songs that improves with each listen as the hooks burrow deeper into your brain. But these aren’t annoying ditties invasive invading the head-space, they’re unexpected visitors that you’re delighted to have return time and time again.
Review Score: 7.7
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