First track Mowers is completely instrumental and is a really building and bouncy start to this album. With a really funky sax leading the way and some soft and subtle violin sharing/fighting for who takes centre stage, it is a busy song that moves well with driving drums and melodies that build and get bigger and bigger as this 2 minute epic continues. It introduces the 10 o'clock Horses perfectly before second track 'Money' breaks in. rnThis second song is a folky, bouncing offering with some very cool honkey tonk style piano and bluesy harmonica. The male vocal is deep and brooding and with the catchy vocal patterns, it has rock n roll edge that gives it drive and bounce.rnNext we are taken in a different direction with a Dub song. Mixing their styles and instruments is a common thing on this album and 'My World' is quite different to many other tracks on this offering but it stands out as a tune of the highest quality. rnThe soft sax and heavy bass lines lead the subtle way musically whilst the sexy, deep female vocal stands at the front of the song. The vocalist has real soul and emotion in her voice and this combined with the brilliant, catchy lyric lines and patterns is what makes this song. The sax solo in the middle and the funky wah guitar help build this song up into a huge dub, reggae classic which gives you a real chilled and happy feeling which is only overcome by the fact your head is nodding and your feet are tapping. At the end in goes all crazy and double time with an immense burst of sax and with the drumming kicking up several notches.rn'Devil in Me' is another bouncy hoedown folk song, with a jittery mandolin leading the melodies this time and once again returning to the driving bass lines and drumming and with the male vocalist growling his way through these near 3 minutes of punk/folk craziness. rnTrack 5, 'Didge Song', unpredictably starts with a didgeridoo and then over the top come some beautiful layers of violin, mandolin and some great cymbal work from the drummer. This song softly builds and has a very relaxed and ambient feel with a slight dub edge and still the folk influence, it has a almost tribal feel which continues into the next track, 'Helen's Last Bag of Chips'. rnThis starts with booming percussion and with soft keys and weird noises in the background, the fiddle comes in and out with a really, really catchy melody and the catchy vocal patterns make this another very memorable song.rnFinal track 'Johnny' has a real 'Levellers' feel, with a huge fiddle melody and rolling drums and bouncing bass. The female and male harmonies work really well and the use of the repeating lyric lines make it a catchy and fun ending to this album with the screaming 'YeeeeeHahhhhs' thrown in through out and the simple driven riff. rn10 o'clock Horses are a real bucket of delight and with their raw folk feel they remind me at times of bands like 'Flogging Molly' but with their very driven bounce and mass depth of instrumental talent, they also have a very live feel to this album and it has a lot of movement and feeling. They are also very very catchy and songs like 'My World' and 'Helen's Last Bag of Chips' are sing along classics. rnThis style of Folk/Punk is not played by that many bands especially on the local scene and 10 o'clock Horses certainly have a original and exciting edge to their sound with the odd dub and reggae influence as well as the tribal feel that the drums and percussion give off. If you want a feel good band that shows a range of cultured influences and uses it's variety of talent to the highest standard, check this band out!
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Reviewed by: Gaz
