Concert review: An Horse at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studio in Denton (March 22)

An Horse joked around on stage and thanked everyone for actually coming out so late on a Monday night.

An Horse

In front of a shockingly small crowd at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studio, An Horse headlined somewhat of a methodical show on Monday night. To be fair, Mondays are typically not the best nights to do, well, anything really, much less go to a live rock show. Add to that the fact that this was pretty much official "Hangover Monday" in the state of Texas. NX35, as odd as it may seem was ONLY a week ago, and SXSW had literally JUST ended. So you can excuse the bands as well as the audience if things felt a little forced. However with that said, An Horse actually played a pretty good set.

Ever since the release of their debut album, Rearrange Beds, I have been hooked. Maybe it is their brand of solid yet not so in-your-face indie rock, or perhaps their ultra-sweet and approachable Aussie personalities. For whatever reason, I really enjoy this duo from down under and was not about to miss an opportunity to check them out. Good thing too! They are currently at the tail end of a nationwide tour and will be heading over to Europe very shortly. After their German tour is done, An Horse will return to the United States but will not be making any stops in Texas. So it could be awhile before you get a chance to see them live again.

"Yeah, we need to put out a new album soon so we can come back here," lead singer Kate Cooper told me after the set. We got a small preview of what a new album might sound like on Monday night as the band performed at least three new songs that are not on Rearrange Beds. But with all of this touring, a new album in the relative future is hard to imagine.

However, if your urge for more An Horse is too much to bear, then get your hands on this. It is a new five song EP consisting of previously released tracks that have been altered and remixed. I kind of like when bands do this sort of thing. It is a good way to keep the songs fresh and hear them in a whole different way than before.

On Monday night though, there was no remixing involved. It was as straight forward as indie-pop gets. An Horse joked around on stage and thanked everyone for actually coming out so late on a Monday night. Then they dove in and out of each head-nod-inducing song in a flash. The whole thing was over by 1 a.m., which was kind of nice.

It was also kind of nice to see Chicago's Big Science perform live. I had not heard a thing about this band before the show, but was actually impressed by them. There are no frills or anything about them. Just solid, straight to the point rock music. Thumbs up fellas. Also, Denton's On After Dark played. I want to hold final judgment on this band until they release their upcoming 7". Their performance was middle of the road for me. I don't want to say it was bad, because it certainly was not. I don't want to say I didn't like it, because there were elements that I really enjoyed. I think if they took a few more steps toward a more melodic approach, this could be a band I would really get in to. But judging by the crowds reaction on Monday, I might be in the slight minority with that view.