Horsey - Debonair

At a time when most bands are taking themselves painfully seriously, Horsey are more than happy to be the butt of the joke. They indulge not in arch boundary-pushing - rather, they’re content to execute cliches with joyous enthusiasm. And, they mostly pull it off. Opener ‘Sippy Cup’ kicks things off in brilliantly gonzo fashion, all musical theatre stabs and glam guitars, but it also functions as a neat window into how their vaudevillian stylings give way to real emotion too. Underneath all the jazz hands and glitter, there’s vulnerable lyricism dressed up as hooks: “If not in this shit, then where the fuck can happiness be?” The band don’t always quite carry off some of their more outré stylings, particularly on mid-album cut ‘Clown’, a dirge that feels out of place following the strange balladry of ‘Lagoon’. But this is the exception rather than the rule, and they bow out with the help of King Krule on the undeniable ‘Seahorse’, a typically side-on look at police brutality. On ‘Debonair’, Horsey walk the tightrope between comedy and tragedy with ease.