They Shoot Horses, Don't They? - Boo Hoo Hoo Boo

Genre rock Publisher Kill Rock Stars External Links Official They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Website Official Kill Rock Stars Website

I've thought about this more seriously and for much longer than you'd probably believe. If I were a circus performer, I'd be shot out of a cannon. Sporting a slick black leotard, I'd put my hair up in a high ponytail, don some aviator shades and light a cigarette before backing down the tube. I'd wiggle my toes in anticipation and when the huge kaboom exploded off I'd soar gracefully across the big top. I'd nosedive into a perfect tuck to miss the net by a clean ten yards and before the black of unconsciousness circled in I would think to myself that I'd really wowed them this time. Head injury and my lugen-griftin', toothless carny boyfriend Bruce would be the only constants in my life; a couple of snakebites and a nice fat hooter would be all I really needed for peace of mind as we jump from town to town. It's a lot lizard's life for me, people.

Boo Hoo Hoo Boo is the debut album from They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, the seven piece art-school rock group. With three horns, guitar, bass, keyboards and drums, the instrumentation immediately calls mid-nineties ska to mind; but their sound is nowhere near that genre, waxing more of daft, daft carny, Klezmer or Mariachi music. These guys are a lot of fun. Too much at some points like "Three," "Words" and "Apple," in which that brass circus sound layered with those whiny vocals are just too, too much.

The record starts with "Emptyhead," a surprisingly danceable ditty with a demanding marching bassline, infectious keyboard melody and the lonely, lonely bass drum thrums..."Hiccup" is a jittery, creepy one, with frantic brass and a loose grating "lalalala" chorus, establishing that schizophrenic carnival signature sound. Captain Beefheart is called to mind and the song builds up to an exciting crescendo at the end. This unique stamp is repeated throughout the album, most notably in "The Bugs," "Apple," and "Three" which starts out with a refreshing strummy guitar, then, sigh, more howling two-man harmony. You've just got to like this kind of vocal to appreciate the album at all. "I am the best," they say at the end. Perhaps at sounding like the dude from Big Audio Dynamite when his voice changed, they are. "Sunlight" is pretty subdued - this is where those vocals really stand out, not in a good way, against soft, really palatable bass, calling to mind even old Oingo Boingo.

"Seeds" is my favorite song on the record. I love the way this one starts with super distorted, bathetic guitar. That singer's wail is generally a screechy and breaking expression of indignation, but when he really relaxes and sings in this cut, it comes out beautifully; lower and quite melodic. Nice layers at end; hummable, low harmony vocals over catchy soft brassy tune. "Concussion" is another great one. It starts cool, with creeping organy keyboard, and just one thready dude singing over a melancholy, minor vignette. Then it breaks into broken brass. Soft distorted guitar transitions us beautifully into this pretty big, complicated choral and horn minor explosion at the end. Nice build; totally pleasing tension. "Big Dot" really rocks and leaves us there for a while. It starts with hand clapping and a chant "Welcome to the end again! Welcome to the end again!" The song's spiked with those by-now-very-irritating vocals. Thin guitar over bass, then Manzeriky keyboards rock out and are totally worth the wade through the voices to get to at the end. "Lowlife" ponders "Is that your arm or is it your leg?" It's generally jittery, over happy, and cartoonishly upbeat. But it's got the best lyrics on the album, including "Is that a smile or pain on your face?/The smile wants to leave but somehow it stays."

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Incorporates the same instrument lineup as ska and a lot of funk bands, not to mention peeping James Brown. However the music they make is absolutely unique - Circus Berserk, a little Beefheart, a lot of wailing and demented happiness. Boo Hoo Hoo Boo gives us a nearly overexposed snapshot into the jubilant, schizoid world these talented musicians live in. It's a screechy, whiny, ooompah of a party and should be reserved for playing at just that sort of occasion. Although we don't get to enjoy the dynamics of their infamous live show, where improvised percussion instruments are born of things found in alleys of the towns they play in, the album gives us an explanation for why they're so well-reputed on stage - simply put, these people are having one hell of a lot of fun. Now if you'll excuse me it's time for me to peel off my leotard and jump in the possum belly, Bruce is a waitin'.