Held By Horses – In History
Held By Horses – In History CD (Self Released)
Essex five piece with a female vocalist who will probably be sick to the back teeth of this comparison so let’s get Paramore out of the way now. Held By Horses will get compared to Hayley and her God bothering boys as, well, to be honest, they do a similar thing. They do it reasonably well I have to say. Opener “You Win Some, You Lose Some” is a nice idea crying out for a catchy hook to propel if in to the festival crowd, arms aloft, slow motion explosion of the lights moment that would no doubt be in the video. If they made one. Second number “Little Water” is a more up tempo attempt at the anthemic alternative pop song and is a far better one at that with front woman Harriet’s vocals having a restrained calm while the band are emoting away. I find this a strange thing to say but she really does remind me of a grungier and ballsier Harriet Wheeler of indie poppets The Sundays. Finally, she lets go however, on the third track “The Last Word” and things veer towards “soaring” alongside a guest vocal from Renz Byrne (whoever he is). Penultimate track “Down and Out” starts with a softly sang, jingle jangle intro that I really can’t get in to as the way she pronounces “going” just sounds peculiar to me. Personal quirks aside, it bursts in to full on ringing dinging Paramore-a-rama. “Virtue” closes the EP and is more of the same. Pretty solid stuff that shows potential: if Harriet can add more depth to her voice and let rip a bit more and if the band can come up with some catchier riffage then the stardom they seek could surely beckon. Marv Gadgie
