Brad Rose @ Foxy Digitalis
Based in San Francisco, California, Two Horses is the band's second release of 2004 (the other being the full-length, Subsequent Light). On first listen, I wasn't sure this was really up my alley; it seemed to lean too much toward pop than I prefer. But over the course of a few subsequent listens, I heard some things I liked. While the pop tendencies are prevalant, a few of these songs remind me of my favorite pop band, Destroyer. On "Ask Us To Dance," the vocals sound a lot like Dan Bejar. The music is mellow and smooth and moves along at a relaxed pace. This isn't groundbreaking, but it's nice. I also like the extensive use of synthesizers on this track. Gives it a nice feel. "Angel in the Angles" is a nice change of pace with the heavily distorted guitars. It rocks, and distorting vocalist Allison Goffman's voice is the perfect match to the music. This track has a lot of hooks; I often find myself singing it hours after it's over. The real gem here, though, is the last track, "The Demise of an African Business Man." It's nothing like the previous songs and clocks in at nearly nine minutes. Ambient textures and heavily treated drums make this gorgeous track stand out like a sore thumb. Through the first 20 minutes of Two Horses, Morning Spy had me convinced they were a pop band, but this is space rock done right. It is most reminiscent of one of my favorite bands, Landing. This track is really a stunner and is worth the price of admission alone. If Morning Spy were to explore these regions more, I'd be avidly following their every move. A very good release nonetheless.



Rabbit @ Shmat
A charming little EP from Morning Spy came my way recently. Entitled Two Horses, it mixes lazy summer folk/pop with a quirky style that's at times more in the vein of say Pavement than Kings of Convenience. But to be more precise, the music is more laid back than lazy or sloppy. The title track is a pop song condensed as a beautiful revolving sequence of tinkling piano chords with tasteful drums and guitar. The open-hearted, pleasant drawl of singer Jon Rooney resembles a cross between Dean Wareham of Luna and Sean Brooks from Minmae (a great band also from San Fran that we've recently gotten into here over at Shmat). I actually love that gentle electric guitar solo that closes out the track; and you know how much I usually dislike solos, so that's saying a lot here. Going back to the Luna reference, it certainly does remind me of something around the Bewitched era or so.

"Ask Us To Dance" slows things down quite a bit with a somewhat loose cannon of a synthesizer taking a turn among Rooney's funny twang. It sounds funny to say it, but this could be a slow dance song for the post Gen-X kids, the kind that I wish they would play at high schools around the nation instead of the drivel that haunts major radio. Damn, I'd dance to it for sure. "Angels In The Angles" changes things up with some distorted guitar firepower and vocals swimming in a sea of metallic atmospheric sheen. These guys are quite capable of losing the "folkpop-band" tag and entering that wonderful mid-fi realm of sound collages that bands like Sparklehorse and Mercury Rev are masters of. "Already Won" feels like a Mojave 3 song, but the biggest changeup here is the great vocals from Allison Goffman. I love this change of scenery; when a band is able to switch male and female vocals with such ease like that, it just increases the staying power of the music in my CD player. It's like getting two bands in one. "Red Hot Hearts", while probably my least favorite on the EP, still ends up winning me over with it's combination of strutting distorted bass chords and Butterglory-like song structure. To say that the last track, the lengthily titled, 8.5 minute long "The Demise of an African Businessman" sounds a little like Yo La Tengo is probably doing a great disservice to the creative juices that the band has oodles of, but that is the first thing that came to mind. Low, velvety toms and bass guitar bounce in and around heavily processed guitar feedback and organ, creating a penchant and somber sort of mood.

This disc is quite simply one of the better EPs I've heard so far this year. And I count myself lucky because I've secured my copy, which is one of a limited edition of 50. That's right, only 50. Make haste. To Keep Recordings you go...



Ryan Conrad @ Delusions of Adequacy
Morning Spy is a four-piece outfit from San Francisco featuring cheery female- and male-delivered vocals over relaxed, meandering psych-pop. The music delves into everything from folk-inflected lo-fi ("Ask Us to Dance") to keyboard squall and murky guitar distort-o-rama ("Angel in the Angles") without leaving the listener stranded. Female vocalist Allison Goffman makes "Angel" especially memorable with her shimmering-yet-submerged vocals. On Two Horses, Jon Rooney, Mark Loftin, James Spadaro, and Goffman have mastered the art of switching up their style without losing their voice(s).

The lead track, "Two Horses," is definitely the single of the collection, followed closely by "Red Hot Hearts." "Two Horses" is a bouncing bit of piano, bass, and spoken/sung vocals that is ridiculously easy to listen to. The mellow drums and guitar work are the ace in the hole, giving the song just the right touch of lazy indie rhythm and building the song to a satisfying pinnacle just at the end. "Red Hot" is a sugary blast of fuzzy rock 'n' roll. The tiny-yet-rockin' lo-fi drums provide a perfect pillow-y backbone for the sawtooth bass, blurry keyboard riffs, and catchy guitar runs. It's like the Ramones on an encumbering dosage of quaaludes and acid. The EP closes with "The Demise of an African Businessman," a honey-smooth atmospheric resolution that sounds like a sunrise. Or sunset. Depends on if the night ending or the day ending is more important to you.

The hand-packaged, limited edition (only 50 pressed, so hurry!) EP has a photo of a fantastic driftwood carving of (what else?) two horse heads. Their coal black eyes peer out from their driftwood prison, nostrils flared in an effort to escape. Their strenuous expression is the most energetic object found on this disc. Two Horses catches Morning Spy at a mellow and mellifluous point that makes it fun to listen. This EP would probably be a favorite for a lot of indie record buyers this year, so fans had better hurry over to KEEP Recordings' website and pick it up. It's available only as long as the scarce stock holds up.



Matt Dornan @ Comes with a Smile
Issue #15: SUMMER 2004
Morning Spy is a San Francisco based quartet that works under the umbrella of indie-pop, although their lo-fi, boy/girl take on the genre is more exploratory than such a tag implies. The opening title-track is a catchy pop ditty, the following "Ask Us To Dance", a Sondre Lerche/Josh Rouse soulful groove. The remaining four tracks display a firm grasp of dream-pop ("Already Won"), ambient instrumentals (the lengthy closer, "The Demise Of The African Businessman") and rough hewn MBV-meets-GBV indie rock (Angels In The Angles", "Red Hot Hearts").



Danny Rowe @ Left Off The Dial
Morning Spy’s Two Horses EP is a nice release that is pleasant in a somewhat familiar but solid sort of way. The first two songs are quite tame, and the singer here really reminds me of Doug Martsch from Built to Spill. It’s pretty standard quiet rock at first, but eventually some bright piano keys come in, and the opening track “Two Horses” comes to life at the end with a little guitar solo. “Already One” has a similar feel, but we get some female vocals and some fairly simple pedal steel in this track. “Ask Us to Dance” sounds a bit like more of the same, but a brief synthesizer interlude pops in to vary things a bit.

I guess it’s hard not to compare their sound with The Shins, but Morning Spy is able to hold their own lyrically, which is crucial to me when I hear a band playing this style of music. But then Morning Spy can throw you a nice curveball of sorts with a song like “Angel in the Angles.” This one has a bit more of an electric guitar crunch to it, which gives the EP a nice change of tempo. Finishing off this six-song EP is a longer piece called “The Demise of an African Businessman.” This is a bit more experimental, with a slow and quiet beginning utilizing a little bit of reverb to evoke a calm instrumental feel. Have you ever heard that Smashing Pumpkin’s song “Drown”? This is kind of like a low-carb-version of “Drown” where the reverb is not nearly as loud or intense, but it evokes a similar feel.

So all and all, this is a nice release with some familiar styles yet enough variation between individual tracks to provide you with some pleasant surprises.



Matt Shimmer @ Indieville
San Francisco's Morning Spy formed in 2001 and has since become a particularly active pop quartet. Their Two Horses EP had the fortune of being picked up by the increasingly impressive KEEP label, and I've been lucky enough to get my paws on a copy. The sound is a bit a change of pace for the budding imprint, whose previous releases (or at least those I've heard) have been a bit more folkish. Morning Spy, on the other hand, are a relatively "regular" indie pop band, infusing basic songs with occasional space rock ambiance and chamber-pop personality.

Two Horses starts off with straightforward pop material - only the slight reverb of the title-track's guitar part and the fuzzy feedback layers of "Ask Us To Dance" hint at the type of spacey rock Morning Spy can really do well. You probably won't "get" this CD's true orientation until you reach the last song, an eight minute epic named "The Demise of an African Businessman." It's quite drawn out, but lush and wonderful nonetheless, thoroughly entertaining despite its instrumental nature. Its gradual, delicate sound calls to mind more experimental Yo La Tengo, and will certainly charm any true shoegazer. The band's less spacey songs, including the subtly twangy "Already Won," are also successful, and add depth to an already impressive EP.

I can't say Two Horses is essential - EPs rarely are - but, as far as friendly indie pop music goes, you can be sure Morning Spy do things right. This is both wonderfully accessible and accessibly wonderful.



JP @ CrookedCamera.net
Based out of San Francisco, Morning Spy play some of the greatest shimmer-pop (and yes, we at crookedcamera CAN invent new genre names if we want) ever heard. This 6 track EP took us by surprise, and made us feverishly start trying to get our hands on their 2003 full length titled “Subsequent Light.” Our personal compulsions aside, this is a great EP. The title track, “Two Horses,” opens with sweetly chunky acoustic guitar hooks, simple accompanying bass, and a soft piano tickle at times. The lyrics throughout the release hint at genius past the vein of The Shins meets Van Morrison. The female vocals are a nice addition too, and we would’ve liked to hear more of the male-female combo, although this doesn’t detract in any way from what was accomplished here. The EP wraps up just as strong, too, with the track “Red Hot Hearts.” It’s a muted, thick bass, softly strummed guitars with affects heavy in reverb, and supports dual dreamy vox that have you entranced in it for a long time, until you want to go listen to the whole EP again. We can’t speak highly enough of this, and cannot wait until their follow up release. These guys could very well be the next Shins.



George Zahora @ Splendid
Two Horses is Morning Spy's second EP in six months. If their creative upswing continues, the San Francisco-based band will deliver a stellar full-length sometime in mid-2005. For the time being, though, Two Horses is no slouch.

If the title track sounds familiar, look no further than another San Fran pop act, this one recently defunct. "Two Horses" replicates the melodic and lyrical sensibilities of a latter-day Beulah song, but on a more intimate scale -- the production is more intimate, the vocals less showy. Synth piano, rather than guitars, dominates this languidly upbeat tune, but that's the only major difference. To Morning Spy's credit, the song never actually sounds like a Beulah ripoff -- it simply pushes many of the same buttons that made Beulah so appealing.

The languid "Ask Us To Dance" follows -- sleepy, sun-dappled acoustic pop with lazy male/female vocals, occasionally jolted by a noodly synth line. "Angle in the Angles" has a bit more punch behind it thanks to a fuzzy electric guitar lead and Allison Goffman's heavily effected vocals -- think shoegaze without the woozy motion sickness effects.

If the peripheral members of Luna hooked up with a slide guitar-player and a twee-pop vocalist, they'd probably record something a lot like "Already Won" -- sinuous, somnolently elastic slide notes and smooth, sugary vocals make for a quietly sublime pop nugget. Continuing the quiet track/loud track stagger, "Red Hot Hearts" is straightforward, bristling indie-pop a la Dressy Bessy or late Apples in Stereo, garlanded with glittery keyboards. The production here is a bit of a letdown -- mostly muffled but occasionally strident, it reduces the lead guitar to a hazy cluck while giving the vocals a dose of head-cold claustrophobia. On the bright side, this simply gives the band a chance to re-record the tune on a grander scale for a future release.

Closer "The Demise of an African Businessman" takes an entirely different tack -- it's an almost-nine-minute stretch of guitar and keyboard ambience. Melodies roll past at a glacial pace, droning keyboard brushing against miserly guitar notes, almost-vocals occasionally billowing through the instrumental fog, cymbal-rumble spreading its ominous presence like an oncoming storm. It's a considerable change of pace after twenty minutes of pop, but by no means unpleasant; it's good to know that the band has some headier material ready when it's needed.

Keep an eye on Morning Spy. On the basis of "Two Horses" alone, they're gearing up to be major players -- is major as an indie pop band can be, anyway.