I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: December 14, 2019] An Horse

I feel like I’d heard of An Horse, but didn’t really know all that much about them.  It turns out they are a duo from Australia: Kate Cooper on guitar/vocals and Damon Cox on drums/backing vocals.  They’ve been around for ten years but have only released their third album this year.

I listened to them a bit before the show and liked what I heard.  But I was in no way prepared for how great they would be live.

Kate Cooper is a fantastic front woman.  She is funny, vibrant and she totally rocks.  Damon Cox is a fantastic drummer–playing interesting patterns, using different kinds of mallets and also singing backup.

I have seen a lot of rock duos recently and I’m always impressed with how big they can sound with just two people.  An Horse doesn’t sound big exactly, but they sound totally full.  You never feel like something is missing.  Their songs aren’t especially complex, but the way they both play, it never feels like “only” guitar and drums.

And the songs are really catchy.

This tour was for the tenth anniversary of Kevin Devine’s Brother’s Blood album.  In some kind of solidarity, An Horse also celebrated the tenth anniversary of their debut album Rearrange Beds, by playing it in its entirety.

I was really amazed and happy at how many people were excited to see them.  People were singing along to all the songs.  It’s always great when the opening band is not only welcomed but really enjoyed.  There was a woman in front of me taking pictures and she left after the An Horse set.  Fascinating.

The first song “Camp Out” was a great opening track and features the eminently singable

And you wanna camp out and I wanna fuck around
In the dark
In the dark

I loved “Postcards” with its start and stop melody.  I also loved how everyone was singing along–especially to the part where she sings “and you came back, yes you came baaa … kuh.”

“Company” slows things down a bit (and has terrific backing vocals).  “Horizons” is full of fast thumping drums which made it sound very different from the other songs.  But it also had a super catchy chorus.

Kate talked about how it was weird to play these songs ten years after she wrote them.  She said most of the songs were about this… fuckwit.  He doesn’t talk to her anymore. But when she listens to the songs, she understands why he doesn’t talk to her anymore.

“Rearrange Beds” is a slower, thoughtful number that flows nicely into the poppier and a bit angrier “Little Little Little.”  I love the lyrics:

oh my god you’re a handful
and oh my god these hands are so small
oh my god I’m a handful
and oh my god your hands got so full of me

Midway through the set, Kate told us that she discovered at some point in their adult lives that she and Kevin Devine were cousins.  It’s crazy, and yet they look an awful lot alike.

She called out Mike Strandberg from The Goddamn Band to play lead guitar and sing backing vocals on “Little Lungs.”  At first he didn’t do all that much, but once it came time for the guitar solo, he brought the intensity times ten.  He made some incredible sounds and then grabbed a tube of some sort and started pressing it on the strings near the pickups, making all kinds of feedbacky/noisy sounds.  The song is pretty intense and his squalls were a fantastic accompaniment.

Because of the location of someone in front of me, I couldn’t always see Damon Cox on drums.  But every once in a while I was able to get a clear view, like when he plays this thundering drum part on “Scared as Fuck.”

“Shoes Watch” has a less heavy sound, with quieter guitars.  I was really impressed with how varied this albums sounded live with just the two of them.  I’m sure she has an array of pedals, but she only played the one guitar for the whole set and managed a terrific variety.

The album ends with a quiet song, “Listen.”  Before the song Kate said that they hardly ever played this song live before.  Damon chimed in that he bough a melodica just for this tour–and it cost more than they’d make on the tour.  Stay in school kids!

Kate said that after the show we could come over and talk to hear about the pointlessness of Guitar Hero (that game is so dumb, and it’s really hard–why not just play a real guitar?).  But when the night was over, only Damon was over at the merch table.  I chatted with him and got the vinyl reissue of Rearrange Beds.  It sounds just as good as it did live.

I’m so glad I got to see them.

SETLIST

1. Camp Out
2. Postcards
3. Company
4. Horizons
5. Rearrange Beds
6. Little Little Little
7. Little Lungs
8. Scared as Fuck
9. Shoes Watch
10. Listen