SAD HORSE "SH" C20 (Curly Cassettes)

The tape consists of six short songs, and I think it would be a good idea to examine each track as its own entity.

Still Thirsty - The vocalist in this track is definitely a unique one. Her style is reminiscent of Jack White’s style in The White Stripes’ album White Blood Cells. The almost scratchy voice that shouts and “woo”s at the listener incessantly should not compliment the mellifluous instrumental as well as it does. It’s a very happy song, and there isn’t a much better way to describe it. The substantial use of percussion (specifically the smashing and thrashing of cymbals) stood out strongly.
7/10

For Real Now - There’s a different, male vocalist in this track, and the lyrics are significantly more understandable than in the last track. The style of rock in this track is evocative of that of early 2000s boy bands, save for the generic lead singer and mediocre instrument use. It’s certainly as catchy as those mainstream hit singles, and the outstanding use of bass is certainly worth a compliment or two.
8/10

Can’t Remember - The first thing that came to mind when I heard this track was “The Strokes”. This song is precisely the kind of song one would expect on The Strokes’ album Angles. Fans of The Strokes (or rather, the style they’ve become) would appreciate this song greatly, and again the bass creates a most noteworthy sound.
8/10

So Far Away - This song differs from the rest of the tracks on the tape in that it’s performed and recorded live. It’s equally pleasant to listen to and it’s a nice change from the more powerful overtone that the previous tracks had created. It’s soft and establishes a very friendly atmosphere in the listener’s head. Not a bad track at all.
7/10

SH - Bass, bass, bass! I can’t tell you how much I love the bass in this album, especially in this track. It’s a purely instrumental track and the shortest on the album, but it definitely conveys the mood that the title of the track/album seeks to deliver (SH = Sad Horse). It doesn’t need vocals to sound any more perfect than it sounds.
9/10

(This Is What It’s Like) In Heaven - The (remarkably less talented) female vocalist is back for the last track on the album. If Phil Collins suffered from strep throat and had just stopped crying, this is what he would sound like. Sad Horse didn’t save the best for last, but every album has its lame-ass track. This was SH’s.
5/10


tl;dr
This is a more than decent album. This artist definitely deserves your support.
Overall, I give it a 7.5/10

https://curlycassettes.bandcamp.com/album/sh

-- M. Syed

Sad Horse - "Eggy Tape" (Eggy Records)

Just got this one from Raf Spileman of Eggy Records a week or so ago. Eggy Records is one of my favorites and it happens to be based here in Portland where I live. Despite being an excellent musician and artist in his own right, Raf has insanely awesome taste and Eggy has been steadily releasing music by some of my favorite bands. The tapes always look and sound amazing and his all-killer distro is always bringing in Grade A shit t00. This brand-fucking-new one is up there with the best and has been super anxiously anticipated for by many. Sad Horse is a frenetic punk duo from Portland and this, their second album, comes after a long wait following their killer first, self-titled tape. I don't know much about Elizabeth but Jeff works at Exiled Records in Portland, which is an amazing record store owned by Scott Simmons of Eat Skull and Pacific City Nightlife Vision Band. There's an element of cool and funny in this music, an element that may be one of those things that seems to come with an informed intuition only possessed by record store employees. Maybe that's totally false, I don't know, but this dude is always playing rad shit in the store and I'm not surprised to hear that his band sounds the way it does. There's elements of Dead Moon in the guitar, their two voices are both higher registered yelling and remind me of early Boredoms sometimes, the drums are snappy and quick like George Hurley when he was in the Minutemen. The songs are surprisingly well written and dynamic, utilizing simplicity and style. The songs are brief but full and there's no sounds going on that weren't meant to be going on. Awesome production quality and, no-hating, a refreshing disregard for unnecessary reverb or surf tricks that so many radical little rock bands tend to incorporate. They definitely have their own thing going on and don't seem to be interested in joining in on any garage rock posturing, as fun and addicting as it may be. I really liked this tape and it's relatively short length makes it easy to jam over and over. I hear there is an LP in the works, so hopefully the wait for more won't be as long as last time. Grab one at Eggy's Mail Order Dept. Hand-painted covers!