Everyone is talking about microtonal weirdo rockers Angine de Poitrine, but what about Horse Lords? The band—featuring Andrew Bernstein, Max Eilbacher, Owen Gardner, and Sam Haberman—had already been founded in 2010 and successively made math rock even more complicated by going beyond equal temperament, working mostly with Just Intonation. Since they haven’t been invited to perform for KEXP, on their sixth solo studio album they now Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive! (omg!).
Horse Lords operate between the US and Germany and have previously written albums remotely. Also these twelve songs—between nine seconds and eight-and-a-half minutes long—came to life this way, and see the band further diversify its palette by bringing in a slew of collaborators such as bass clarinetist Madison Greenstone and trombonist Weston Olencki as well as, for the very first time, two vocalists: soprano Nina Guo and shape note singer Evelyn Saylor.
The latter two play a central role on D2BT2HA!, engaging in sometimes heavily auto-tuned post-minimal duets that highlight the group’s roots in the contemporary composed music world. However, that doesn’t mean that the record as a whole doesn’t rock. Horse Lords’ grooves may be knotty and complex, but always remain wonderfully skronky and oddly funky. The weirdness of their music may be rooted in advanced musical ideas, but what makes Horse Lords stand out is how fun and engaging they put them into practice.
