Music
Press
"No Horses have honed both a sound and a stage presence that has critics comparing them to everyone from Neil Young to the Young Rumblers. And though they are clumped over and over again into that vague category of country-rock, I would have to argue that in this instance, the word ’rock’ should come before the word ’country,’ as No Horses leave no doubt that rock is still the dominant genre." - 24 hour 21/02/08
My Album of the Year goes to… drum roll… Vancouver’s NO HORSES for their astounding, self-released eponymous debut. An almighty, country-scorched, intense, balls-out rock ‘n’ roll album, it’s sounding like a classic of its kind to these ears. So if you’re a label reading this, on the hunt for an unsigned killer band to rip up the stages of the world, look no further than these guys and gal.....
- Blog Cabin 017: Another Annual Music List Thingy
Oh, I haven't felt like this since I was first knocked off my feet by Jason & The Scorchers. An absolute shit-storm of raucous roots-laden rock and roll. Like Joe Strummer joined Crazy Horse, or Gram had gone all the way and joined the Stones, and then some...
From opener "Grab Your Coat", No Horses make it clear that you're going nowhere. It would be pointless (not to say stupid) to refuse them. But, just for good measure, that opening guitar salvo should have nailed you to the wall. It doesn't let up through second track, four-on-the-floor stomper Tombstone Eyes. They ease off just a little for the 6-minute 'The Mountain', and then it's heads-down again for some Southern (Canadian) boogie with 'Don't Get Me Home'. Yes, if you're a fan of amped-up country-rock then you are going to absolutely LOVE No Horses.
Two duelling guitars, monumental keyboard, bass and drums that feel like all four walls coming down (and gob-iron - under-used, my only negative comment on the record) topped off with cord-shredding vocals (and the best backing vocals since Mick Jones un-tutored, errant howling for The Clash). Totally exhilarating.
Recorded mostly 'live' in the studio and all the better for it, I hope that no-one ever tries to tame the passion and feral power of No Horses. So often it can be a disappointment to discover that the awesome band you saw in concert, failed to capture their essence on record. Be thankful that No Horses (and producer Shawn Cole) did. And if like me you're struggling to scrape together the airfare to see them play in their native Canada, live in hope that their live show is that many times better than the record, because - if it is - oh man, I can't even begin to contemplate how great it will be... my face is already melting.
http://www.nohorses.com
http://www/myspace.com/nohorses
- Gilded Palace Radio Show - Brighton
"HO-LEE SHIT!
The album kicks some mean ass! Winter Park is the "Fuck Yeah!" ballad of the year and the whole album makes you want to hit the road on a vintage Harley, making it up as you go along with a bottle of whiskey and your grandaddy's pistol!
Nice work gang. Nice fucking work." - Baron S. Cameron
"[No Horses] ...this year 's numero-uno contender for the good-time-sloppy vibe grandfathered by a certain Canadian exile they call Shakey. By wisely recording its debut live-off-the-floor in seven short days, the rowdy six-piece managed to capture its precious chemistry on tape, and the result is an album that wallops you right in your rock 'n ' roll heart."
- Adrian Mack - Georgia Straight Best of 2008
The band came with bearded grins and a very direct comment: “We're loud.”
“OK” I replied, rolling my eyes.
Understand that often loud means, as a tech, you're hooped. Behind the board you want as much control as possible, not only to shape the sound to the demands of the room, but also so that anything that is being piped back to the monitors is not cranked so hight that feedback is an impending sward of Damocles. I need not have feared. Loud yes, in control yes.
Bringing a bluesy edge, and occasional classic rock licks. This band is tight and know what makes a really good show. - BC MUSICIAN MAGAZINE - BY RADAR
This past weekend, I was chatting with my friend, Dave in Nanaimo. Do you know Dave? He lives in Nanaimo. Tall guy, reddish-brown hair? Oh well, doesn't matter...
Dave is always turning me on to music that he hears in the wind. This time, he told me about a band from Vancouver called No Horses. He thought I'd like them because they're a bunch of great friends who love each other playing non-pretentious rootsy rock.
He was correct. If you see him around town, tell him, "Thanks". - CBC Radio 3 by Craig Norris
" From the opening assault of “Grab Yer Coat,” built upon a fuzzy stomp that immediately conjures the ghost of Crazy Horse’s Danny Whitten, this Vancouver sextet make a powerful statement with their debut album. In fact, there’s nothing subtle at all about No Horses’ approach, and by the time “Tombstone Eyes” inflicts its speaker damage, it’s entirely conceivable to view this band as the country rock equivalent of BC brethren Black Mountain. Even when they try to tone things down by pulling out the acoustic guitars, as on “Diggin’ A Hole,” things inevitably swirl into an Exile On Main Street-like miasma. If there is any criticism to be levelled at No Horses, it’s that the shared vocals of Kristoffer Welch, Ryan Olszewski and Nick Lawton are a tad buried. Yet that’s not enough to dampen the overall energy of the album, one that has to stand among the most exciting Canadian roots rock debuts of the year, especially for fans of Neil Young or the Drive-By Truckers."
- Jason Schneider ! Exclaim ! "Canada's Music Authority" 01/11/08 - Exclaim Canada's Music Authority
"It’s rare an out-and-out rock band affects me in the way Vancouver’s awesome No Horses has. Attitudinally vintage Rolling Stones and “hell, yeah!” Southern rock, their country-fried barroom anthems are intense, euphoric and just plain thrilling. My hands-down album of the year."
- David Morrison, More Island Living "What Goes On?" 01/11/08
- More Island Living - David Morrison
"Fueled on booze and late nights, the six piece has conjured up the perfect album with highs and lows that a roller coaster would have trouble matching"
- Denis Maile, The Skinney Magazine 21/10/2008 - The Skinney Magazine
Discography
No Horses - No Horses - self titled debut lp
Numerous songs have been added to radio in Canada and the UK, on streaming online stations, and FM including college/university stations, coop radio, CBC, XM, and various other FM Stations.
Photos
Bio
“Possessing passion and fire in spades, they rock like they invented it…”
- SCORCHER SHANE, Totally Radio, Brighton, UK
Just one cranked-up airing of NO HORSES’ acclaimed 2008 debut or a few slack-jawed minutes witnessing one of their explosive live performances is all it takes to understand why such breathless praise as that above is no overexcited hyperbole. On wax or onstage, consistently “rocking like they invented it” is exactly what Vancouver’s new rock ‘n’ roll heroes do... and then some.
Evoking comparisons with the notable ilk of Crazy Horse, Drive-By Truckers, Slobberbone, It Still Moves-era My Morning Jacket and a clutch of Southern Rock legends, NO HORSES’ primal rock power prompted Exclaim! magazine’s Jason Schneider to astutely proclaim the band as “the country-rock equivalent of B.C. brethren Black Mountain.” Hitch the swagger of a subterranean, homesick Bob Dylan and the goodtime party spirit of vintage Faces to NO HORSES’ intense delivery, and the overall effect is simply devastating.
Variously hailing from Prince George, Victoria, Edmonton and Frontier, SK., the six members of NO HORSES convened in Vancouver in the spring of 2007 in the wake of one independent album from its rootsier progenitor, Mud River. The country influence remained intact as the new line-up found its sound, but the fresh, amped-up approach saw the twang subside a tad in favour of granite-hard rock ‘n’ roll crunch. With a background cutting their teeth in punk, hardcore and heavy metal bands, the hard edge to NO HORSES’ rock comes as no surprise, but the band’s rapidly evolving sonic identity now sees them beginning to embrace other areas of influence. Classic blue-collar rock like Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty, plus prime ‘60s soul and acoustic campfire blues are all entering the equation, rural rusticity meeting big city concrete and steel head-on.
Rubbing shoulders with Vancouver’s metal and biker fraternity in their jam space, NO HORSES is a band fast gaining a reputation for crazy times and wild partying, their pig-roast party-shows reflective of the frazzled atmosphere in which they recorded their stunning eponymous debut album. Captured live off the floor in just seven days by producer Shawn Cole in an all-wooden East Vancouver loft, the resultant instant Canadiana classic drew unanimous accolades from music fans and critics alike. The Georgia Straight’s Adrian Mack hit the nail squarely on the head in observing that “the rowdy six-piece managed to capture its precious chemistry on tape, and the result is an album that wallops you right in your rock ‘n’ roll heart.”
NO HORSES will be walloping you right in your rock ‘n’ roll heart at a venue in your town this summer. And then some…
David Morrison
Please visit our website: www.nohorses.com
or our myspace page: www.myspace.com/nohorses for up to date information.
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