Man, it is colder than a witch's tit. Luckily I've been jamming this album for the past couple of weeks and it's helped to keep my mind off of the frigid cold. Horse Operas, not to be confused with 'Horse Opera' is a sweet 3 piece band that formed in Austin a few years ago. Hailing from Louisiana, Okalahoma, and Alabama respectively; Henry, Travis, and Josh crossed paths via work and other pet projects at the time. Henry handles most of the vocals and a guitar, Travis also supports on guitar and ukelele, Josh mans the drums, and Bill handles the keyboard, but I don't know where he's from. Since they've left Austin, some guys picked up the name, minus the plurality, so don't fall for it. Anyhow, the guys have all left Austin for different parts of the Midwest, in the pursuit of greater things... Their wives.

Dead Man's Music is the group's first full-length album, and it was released in November on Southern Love Records. With two of the guys in Chicago, and the third in Iowa, they would get together every few months to play shows somewhat hap-hazzardly, without practicing their material. Apparently the album came together the same way. I couldn't tell, but if anything, it adds some real character to the finished product.

I would say that these guys fit nicely within the whole "Americana" or "Alt-country" niche, however one might choose to define it. Nonetheless, with influences ranging from Johnny Cash to Nirvana and the Dead Kennedy's, I'm quite attracted to the stiff-upper lip sensibilities that come through in some of the tunes. The music is very simple; there's a guitar, sometimes two, a ukelele, and some pretty easy to follow drum-beats. Simple formulas bring great results, as their songwriting and changing tempos are what makes this music fun to listen to.

Stay Warm,
Brain