Send "An Horse " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 An Horse frontwoman Kate Cooper spends the band's second album, Walls, struggling to connect to other people and watching other lives as they fall apart. On "Swallow the Sea" she hits on a possible explanation: "Maybe it's our convict blood," posits the refrain, a clever and poignant nod to Cooper's and bandmate Damon Cox's Australian heritage. Perhaps that's not the most scientific rationale for why the duo's songs are full of so much heartache and dissolution, but it's the best one An Horse offer, unless you count the time in "Not Mine" where Cooper admits, "That's enough 'Twin Peaks' for one night."These moments of self-awareness and cheek stick out because Cooper spends much of Walls navel-gazing and mired in helplessness. As a result, the success of the album's songs is pretty much directly proportional to how much of a riffy ruckus they kick up to bolster Cooper's bum trips. An Horse may seem superficially limited with only two members and a stripped-down reliance on guitar and drums, but the duo still manages to range impressively between indie-rock anthemics and straight-up punk-pop blasts. The punky stuff is the most fun of course-- "Airport Death", "Trains and Tracks", and "Leave Me" invite favorable Sleater-Kinney comparisons in the marriage of Cooper's aggrieved, plaintive vocals and the music's ripping uptempo blur. Even with more space to breathe, though, An Horse prove capable of powerful songcraft, taking a more ruminative but still rousing emo-indie tack on "Dressed Sharply" and "Know This, We've Noticed", songs that show you why the band made a worthy opening act to Death Cab for Cutie in 2008....full text |
| Noripcord |
| A simple assembly is all it takes for An Horse to rip up a well-aimed song: an amped guitar, a minimal drum kit, and the appropriate pedal to lay siege with an overpowering amount of noise. The Australian duo started on the right track with Rearrange Beds, a modest debut that established them as slightly one-note but with enough brawn and lyrical aptitude to justify the Tegan & Sara seal of approval. Not to mention, the inclusion of chorus bangers Postcards and Camp Out, two left-field hits so good that you’d be willing to spend the cash to take them off the inevitable career pothole of product placement. So yes, the thought of a Mercedes making the curve comes to mind every time that opening guitar crunch comes up. Fortunately, it was merely a kick of economic moral; Walls proves that the pair still has plenty of mileage to sustain a longer voyage. Evoking the cloistered spirit of college radio, An Horse are just about hitting their stride – Kate Cooper continues to lay the rebellious damsel in distress without debasing herself, while drummer Damon Cox pummels the kit at every angle, filling every open space with brash disposition. Their authentic unison is what makes them stand out in the BFF sack race – while others flair studious technicality with abnormal precision (the Whites), Cooper and Cox are unconcerned on upping each other’s skills; their musical tastes are so in accord, it’s hard to envisage them parting ways. Walls also has a few hidden Easter eggs – the wistful acoustic pattern of Windows in the City and the melodic scales in Know This, We’ve Noticed are far more bred than the punk buzz heard in their previous set list. But alas, their memo still consists in chugging fast, yet laced chords, which tension Cooper’s cathartic heart from breaking into pieces. Perhaps their impatience gets the best of them, especially in key moments when there's a build up and the momentum suddenly stops without a satisfying conclusion. That aside, An Horse carry on their full-bodied sound with a knack that is much to be desired. And boy, are those hooks grand!...full text |
| Spin |
| An Horse singer Kate Cooper is a relentless whirlwind who doesn't know when to stop - and that's a good thing. On their second album, this Aussie duo's buzzy guitar pop is more hyper and gripping than ever, as she breathlessly spews dramatic tales that have the immediacy of crazed Twitter posts. "My head is bleeding from banging it against this wall / What's it all for?" Cooper sighs on the title track, then shouts, "Just please wake up!" at a hospitalized friend in "Brain on a Table." She's exhausting, but never dull....full text |
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