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The Rocking Horse Winner - Horizon

Rating

RIYL

-

Label

Equal Vision

Tracklist

1. Orange Blossom
2. Error
3. Miss You
4. Horizon
5. When Songbirds
6. Curable
7. Tomorrow
8. Novelty
9. Playing With Lights
10. Christmas Day

So, The Rocking Horse Winner is quite different than anything I have ever heard before, and es muy bueno. Coming from the same label that Saves The Day used to be on and as Converge, I was thinking that this would be some sort of emo/punk or hardcore getup, but their sound fills a unique niche in the whole underground scene. This band distinguishes themselves with dulcent melody and a light pop/emo rock mentality, completed by a female vocalist that can actually sing.

The playing is an eclectic mix of guitar driven rock tracks and sweet, slow ballads. Former members of As Friends Rust and Shai Halud provide a diverse background to draw influences from. Mellow, even ambient lead guitar is structured over a bass so soft that is barely noticeable, in the first few tracks. In the middle of the album, the theme shifts more towards the rock spectrum, always and flowing. If there was one word I could use to describe The Rocking Horse Winner, it would be “honey”. The sound is rounded out by keyboard effects in certain songs.

The first thing that caught my attention was Jolie Windholm’s lofty and silky singing voice. This is definitely a far cry from most female vocalists in the punk/indie/emo scene, who most often resemble their male counterparts with aggressive, prowling voices. Not like that’s a bad thing, because do you really expect somebody like Brodie Armstrong of the Distillers to sound all pretty and girly? I don’t think so. Jolie is not afraid to be feminine, yet commanding as she never lets her voice go sour or out of range. Her voice compliments the happy, poppy lyrics about love and life, and rounds out the full essence of this carefully crafted album.

So, if you want something sweet or poppy, maybe even a bit sugary, I would definitely pick up this album. The only possibly bad thing about this album is that fans of harder rock might find it creates a saccharine taste in their mouth from too much sweetness. But it’s springtime, everything is light and airy, and I say bring on the sugar fix.

-Potato