Album Review: Half Horse / Half Horse – Millions of Brazilians

Half-Horse / Half-Horse, the latest release from buzz-band Millions of Brazilians – as far as local press goes, anyway; apparently the New Dodge had to turn hopeful spectators away at last week’s Blowout–  packs a punch that equals the hype surrounding the band. Melding driving dance beats and muscular, psychedelic riffage, MoB have an undeniably catchy sound, their song “Countdown” calling to mind Bloc Party meets Queens of the Stone Age. The band is certainly one of the most “contemporary” bands to be heralded in this city in recent years, eschewing references to retro-rock in favor of trendier, more electro-sounding cues– like popular rock in general it seems, based on recent releases from The Killers and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Nevertheless, the songs on the EP are pretty diverse. “Only Think You’re In Love” is funky, with disco guitars and falsetto call-and-response. The first track, “Armenia”, psyches out with a slow piano riff before heading into a haunted, New Wave-sounding synth rocker. For a band whose live lineup consists of just two guitarists and a drummer, Half-Horse / Half-Horse is almost downright ethereal in parts– perhaps a little heavy on production for a band with such stripped-down live components –but it always rocks.

There’s not much to “get” here, aside from maybe some references to the recent Kilpatrick scandal in the song “Hammer Hammer Carrot”: Half-Horse / Half-Horse is the fulfillment of the aforementioned Queens of the Stone Age’s manifesto to make music “heavy enough for the boys and sweet enough for the girls”. Seems like it’s working.

Featured Track:“Hammer Hammer Carrot”

Millions of Brazilians play at St. Andrew’s Hall on March 28th with The Von Bondies and Nico Vega.