Description
Haunted Horse: Songs of Love, Defiance & Delusion is the sophomore album by the American indie rock band Neon Horse, released on Tooth & Nail Records in July 2009. The album was produced by the band.
Not only is Jason Martin the singer/songwriter/leading light behind the long-running Starflyer 59 (15 years and counting), he juggles a number of other going concerns. He writes and plays all the instruments for Bon Voyage, with his wife Julie – their third album Lies, out last year, was very good. He works with his brother Ronnie in The Brothers Martin, though time will tell if that’s more than a side project.
And he’s (somewhat secretly) a main member of Neon Horse, an anonymous rock band that reared its head last year. Like Gorillaz, the members of Neon Horse hide behind cartoon analogues, in this case looking like the cast of Deadwood done up animation style. In reality, it’s a collaboration between Martin and Mark Salomon of Stavesacre, whose voice is simply unmistakable. Their sound is junkyard ‘80s, with sloppy kickass guitars and plastic synths backing up Salomon’s affected howl. Their self-titled debut was 30 minutes of high-speed awesome, Martin stretching out on guitar in ways I’d never really heard before.
The second Neon Horse album is pretty much the same, but this one has a much cooler title: Haunted Horse: Songs of Love, Defiance and Delusion. It is, once again, 30 minutes of non-stop rock, although this one is even more ‘80s – the synths are more prominent, the melodies more Devo. But the attitude remains the same. Under his Norman Horse persona, Salomon whoops and snarls all over these songs. He’s much more restrained and precise in Stavesacre, but here, he’s like a madman. The first four songs on this album rush by in 10 minutes, Salomon a whirling dervish atop the din.
Martin has experimented with jagged guitar lines in Starflyer, but I’ve never heard him play like he does in Neon Horse. Loud, angular, just ripping – check out «Follow the Man», the riff-heavy explosion at track four. The main guitar line is pure trash-rock, the chorus is awesome, and the Jim Morrison-style breakdown section is well-placed. «Yer Busy Little Beehive» drives forward on Martin’s synths, while «Strange Town» combines his strengths, the propulsive guitar riffs augmented by droning keys. But there’s nothing clinical about this music – it’s all just full-on fun.
Lyrically, Neon Horse is very worried about you. «Strange Town» is similar to Poison’s «Fallen Angel», and a million songs of its ilk – it’s about lost innocence, about “shadows grow(ing) under street lights in a strange town.” «Follow the Man» finds Salomon pleading for a prostitute’s salvation, and «Chain Gang Bang Bang» follows a line of miserable souls off a cliff. The whole album balances the seamy, dirty music Neon Horse makes with a fatherly, almost spiritual sensibility. (Except «Cell-o-Phone». That one’s about an annoying person who calls too much.)
But if you’re not looking for the shafts of light, you’ll never notice them. Haunted Horse is a sleazeball rock record with a pure heart, and if you think they can’t do both, you haven’t heard it. Neon Horse is like the logical extreme of Starflyer’s New Wave material, and at the same time, it’s like nothing Jason Martin’s ever done. It’s sexy-cool-fun, and just long enough at half an hour. Long may this Horse ride. [Andre Salles, Tuesday Morning 3 a.m., August 2009]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/haunted-horse-songs-of-love-defiance-delusion/714500270)
CD tracklist:
01. When Daddy Gets Home – 2:34
02. Strange Town – 2:36
03. Yer Busy Little Beehive – 2:37
04. Follow The Man – 2:49
05. Some Folks – 4:12
06. ‘Haven’t Sinned In Years! – 3:09
07. Cell-O-Phone – 2:57
08. Chain Gang, Bang Bang – 2:46
09. Comin’ Up Theventh – 2:39
10. I Don’t Need Anything – 3:37
“Strange Town” (MUSIC VIDEO)
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