rock plaza central are we not horses rar

A different musical idea illuminates each song: On the tense 'Fifteen Hands', the rattling percussion mimics the horses' snorts and whinnies, as if tethered around a dimming campfire, tendrils of steam forming in the cold air around their hot skin. Is an idiosyncratic work, marked by the musicians' individual and collective personalities. His vocals and the band's liberal application of brass instruments have inspired many comparisons to Neutral Milk Hotel, but in truth, Are We Not Horses? Recalls Okkervil River's similarly hoofed Black Sheep Boy in the metaphoric potential of its anthropomorphism as well as in its considerable musical accomplishment.

In truth, even after abandoning the concept review idea, I feel the burden of responsibility to describe for you music that often seems just beyond the reach of verbs and adjectives- Fiona Stewart's swirling violin running tangent to the melodies those demonstrative horns volleying fanfares across Eaton's vocals the unsettling unraveling of 'My Children, Be Joyful' and closer 'We've Got a Lot to Be Glad For' the way songs bend themselves into a heraldic sing-alongs, as if Eaton is leading a congregation in hymns. The horse thing is a crucial but not defining part of this beguiling, often beautiful album, so concentrating too much on that part of it threatens to paint these songs as cartoonish and detached from the world they want to portray- especially considering all the annoying indie acts dressed up like stuffed animals these days. Even worse, such a concept review might give the wrong impression of not just Are We Not Horses?, but of Rock Plaza Central itself, a loose collective of Toronto musicians that sculpts epic indie-folk curios from Eaton's odd and oddly affecting lyrics. All those elements just beg for a review that's equally far-fetched and out-there, something weird and coolly obtuse.īut for an unsigned band that most readers will not have heard prior to reading this piece, I fear that approach would be useless, more a showcase for the critic's questionable indulgences than an engaged assessment of an album that should find a wide audience in the indie realm. And they're caught in the middle of an epic war between good and evil.Īnd their story is conveyed in Chris Eaton's high-flying wail of a voice, an odd instrument that would be completely off-putting if it weren't so touching in its derangement. Toronto-based Rock Plaza Central's Are We Not Horses? Is after all a concept album, a song cycle about mechanical horses programmed to think they're real horses, the implication being that their artificial minds and souls still act like real ones.

This would have been the perfect opportunity for a concept review.

Rock plaza central are we not horses rar