Year of the Fiery Horse
With a name rooted in negativity and superstition, Getintothis’ Adam Lowerson explores a positive start for Liverpool newcomers Year of the Fiery Horse.
According to the Chinese zodiac, every 60 years, the Year of the Horse turns bad, and is known as the Fiery Horse. In these years of the Fiery Horse, people born are considered to be notoriously unlucky, rebellious and irresponsible. In fact, some people take the superstition so seriously that in the last Year of the Fiery Horse, people in Japan are said to have deliberately tried to avoid having children to prevent bringing bad luck to their families. Safe to say, it’s not exactly the most popular zodiac sign.
So for the sake of the band of the same name, you’d hope that it was all just a myth. Luckily for Year of the Fiery Horse, a Liverpool based four-piece, 2015 so far seems to be going their way. They’ve released their debut EP Flaneur through Bandcamp, had airtime on BBC 6 Music through Steve Lamacq’s Recommends show and have a few hometown shows in the pipeline, including one at Maguire’s Pizza Bar on July 19.
Flaneur, their four track EP released at the beginning of this month, is a promising introduction to their Darwin Deez-y indie synth pop sound. Opening track Isabelle is the clear standout, melding choppy guitars with Nintendo sounding synths making for an easy going track with an instantly memorable chorus. While their sound doesn’t come close to pushing any boundaries, there are signs the four-piece have an ear for a melody and a talent for creating multi-layered, textural indie. They wear their influences for all to see with obvious inspiration from bands like Metronomy, yet avoid coming across as an imitation.
Through songs such as Midnight in the Montmartre, YOTFH show a languid, almost slacker feel to their otherwise pop sound and a welcome contrast to the rest of the EP, which at times feels slightly repetitive.
2015 may officially be the Year of the Sheep, but with gigs in the pipeline and a solid opening effort in Flaneur behind them, these four lads from Liverpool will be hoping that this will be the Year of the Fiery Horse.
