This 7” already has scored points in my heart without even hitting the turntable.  It’s marbled green vinyl with pink record labels. I’m a total sucker for colored vinyl. Another thing that’s cool is that the record is built to look like it’s got a 45 adapter already hooked in. Honestly, I’m not too familiar with Horse Marriage. I’ve heard good things, but don’t know anything firsthand. It’s my understanding that this artist used to be more acoustic-based. Well, this little record is way different than that. This is some fuzzed out Shoegazey guitar that’s got that fantastically dreamy quality about it with an edge of No Wave/Alternative/Noise Rock. The lead vocalist so fondly reminds me of a mix of Dinosaur Jr., Pavement, or Sonic Youth with the male vocals of My Bloody Valentine or Slowdive. A really nice contemporary San Franciscan mélange of those late 80’s/90’s sub-genres. A fresh new take that makes Horse Marriage a contender that can stand firm above all the other new indie “Hey, check out my MySpace page” artists. All out ill-tuned guitars that make you feel washed over, drugged out, and left in a jaded mess of guilty pleasures. Also, some irresistible pop sensibilities. A really strong 7” that I will revisit many times, unlike so many of my other 45’s. If this is really a new sound for them then I strongly encourage them to continue on in this direction. I couldn’t imagine that it’s any less pleasing than what they sounded like before. Great. Just really, really great.
8/10
