Spins: Neon Horse • Habit of Creature
Neon Horse
Habit of Creature
(Velvet Blue)
The originally clandestine gothic rockers Neon Horse released a second full-length album called Haunted Horse: Songs of Love, Defiance, and Delusion in 2009. Already about as underground as they come, the band went further underground. Fifteen years later, the disbanded band has re-banded to lob this Molotov cocktail of four songs through unsuspecting record shop windows before careening around the corner, cackling and racing out of sight again. The brutal but tuneful set draws dire elements from alternative metal, emo, punk, surf, hard rock, and hardcore, making the kind of sound that might reasonably be expected from the serendipitous collusion by members of Stavesacre, Starflyer 59, and Project 86. Stavesacre frontman, Mark Salomon, aka Norman Horse, delivers a caustic vocal with a whiff of Bruce Dickinson’s siren howl during the pulverizing psychobilly of “Haskell Moon,” sneering venomously about “snake oil sales to the snake bit suckers” before describing the empty legacies of those hapless, duped souls. “A cloud of pink dust is your mark on the earth,” he sings with pity, disdain, or both. The band locks into a grinding groove worthy of The Damned. Poison-tongued kiss-off “Nuttin’ There” surges with jagged rhythm and glam-rock swagger atop Charlie Martin’s two-ton drumbeat. Starflyer 59 guitarist (and Charlie’s dad) Jason Martin launches “Moana Lisa” with a snarling and bluesy earworm of a riff. When the band shifts into sludgy propulsion, it’s like a supergroup jam by members of Black Sabbath and AC/DC. The song unloads withering castigation onto a self-centered drama queen. “Would it kill ya to die a little to yourself?” chides an exasperated Norman Horse with echoes of New York Dolls’ David Johansen. “Poor thing!” he adds with derision. The song brims with layers of Martin’s coolly restrained but perfectly acerbic twang. The dark and sinister flow of the fatalistic “I Know That It Can Be Confusing (When It’s All Your Fault)” is anchored by Project 86 veteran Steve Dail’s growling and rumbling bass. Even for a band that bucks convention as a matter of course, including bebop saxophone during the lurching unison riff-rocker’s breakdown was an unexpected twist. Salomon/Horse offers another catchy chorus melody, swathed in echo and fighting its way through Martin’s deliciously dense guitars. Habit of Creature is as gloriously unkempt and proudly filthy as the roughneck mascot depicted on the EP’s painted cover. After the long wait, this EP-length outing may seem like teasing or perhaps more like a drive-by assault. These four ferocious tracks will entice new fans while leaving veteran listeners hoping it won’t be another 15-year wait for more. (velvetbluemusic.bandcamp.com)
– Jeff Elbel
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