Irish band THE DANDY HORSES was formed in the spring of 2012, with Belfast their base of operations from what I understand. They released an initial EP at the beginning of 2013, and recently released a second EP, both of them available on their bandcamp website.
The first, self-titled EP by The Dandy Horses found it’s way into this household after my better half won a copy of it in a contest. And while I promised I would cover it, I’m afraid that I managed to forget all about it for some time, recently rediscovering this item in one of my piles of promo material. Still, it is still with better late than never I guess, so here is my take on this production.
The most striking feature of this 5 song production are the vocals. Strong female lead vocals is the backbone in four of the five songs, the one exception a male/female duet, and all of the songs feature layered vocal harmonies for the chorus sections, some of them also have additional bits where layered vocals are applied. As I experience the vocals as a standalone element they have more in common with Country and Americana than anything else, although my perception there could be an incidental one. Country and Americana are music built upon older traditions of course, but at least for a listener like me the vocals does add a touch of Country to the music explored on this EP.
The compositions themselves are fairly straight forward affairs, and distinctly acoustic in nature. Acoustic guitars is the mainstay instrument, utilized to create harder edged, staccato backbones, dampened varieties of the same as well as a more careful, plucked expression used for the songs of a more tender orientations. Plucked banjo and mandolin details alternates with the piano to supplement the acoustic guitar, depending on the type of mood the band wants to establish, while violin details and flute or possibly tin whistle details are utilized to flavor the compositions with mournful and playful atmospheric details respectively. In terms of overall style I’d place this production somewhere in the borderlands between Western European oriented folk music, Celtic oriented folk music and Country/Americana I guess, although as a novice in musical territories like this I suspect folk music nerds might have a lot to say about my general impression.
I will have to admit that music of this kind isn’t something I have a deeper interest in personally, and Country is a type of music I tend to have a fairly trained relationship with. Still, I find this EP to be an enjoyable one. Nothing that lit my fires up high, but well made and well performed material of it’s kind it is. Fans of rock and music of a more contemporary character can safely shy away from this band, but if you have an affection for folk music and Country, especially if it contains Celtic inspired and Americana flavored details, this is an EP that should have a strong appeal.
My rating: 60/100
