On the remote chance that I run into the aforementioned renowned nonagenarian naturalist and broadcaster I will probably fail to mention that my favourite track of the last week or so has been ‘I Punched A Lion In The Throat’ by Leeds’-most-hardcore, Pulled Apart By Horses. He probably has strong views on that sort of thing, even in jest^.
One man's adventure ends Where another man's adventure begins With the wind in his hair and the strength of ten bears He bites whatever the future brings
Yeah!
Pulled Apart By Horses was spawned in 2010 and I delved backwards to find it a couple of years later, having been poleaxed by their Tough Love album in 2012. It’s a less rocky affair than that sophomore effort, Pulled Apart By Horses sounds wonderfully strained trying to contain a hardcore punk, umm, core, and some very off-kilter alt sounds (Jesus Lizard anyone?) of the sort that broke through from the US underground in Nirvana’s wake.
You wouldn’t call it punk, or metal, or even ambient-glam-flamenco, they sound like Pulled Apart By Horses. If I was looking for markers I would pick out Mudhoney as a touchstone, their too-fucked-to-be-nimble riffing echoes here, as do various unsavoury Amphetamine Reptile types. Pulled Apart By Horses very sensibly give it all a shot of their own youthful vim and vigour, sending the tracks rocketing off into the void.
Proof? rack up the superb opener ‘Back To The Fuck Yeah’ and the Evil Dead referencing video. Warning: contains scenes of at least one cardigan being shredded at the elbows, which may be triggering for some knitwear fetishists.
Everything is strangulated, over-caffeinated and stretched taut and I really wouldn’t want to have singer Tom Hodson’s throat the morning after a gig. I bet the band relax by running around in little circles really fast until they fall over and knock themselves out*. What lingers though is just how catchy it all is.
There are lots and lots of great bits on Pulled Apart By Horses, I could run through it all in tedious detail but here are my favourite things on it:
- The Crapsons – just the title, perfect. Future all dealt with, we were lied to.
- High Five, Swan Dive, Nose Dive – Hodson’s vocals treat the title like a trampoline and it has a wonderfully satisfying climax**.
- Yeah Buddy – their most pop moment, it has extra shouty heavy bits to compensate.
- Den Horn – some great slower, groovy riffing.
- Meat Balloon – just for the sarcastic lyrics.
- Get Off My Ghost Train – some particularly good bass on this baby.
The beasts paved the way for the victor day As our hero began one last fight I punched a lion in the throat Ultimate power! Maximum life!
As an interesting touch Pulled Apart By Horses has a cool full size lyric booklet, where each track is illustrated by a different artist. It is a quality item.
I have really enjoyed spending some quality time with Pulled Apart By Horses again, there is something really exhilarating about a young heavy band finding their own voice.
Well, that and punching lions in the throat, obvs.
Shhh, here comes Sir David, act natural.
1006 Down.
PS: Because you deserve it:
^about lions being punched I mean. I don’t mean to say that he is on record as having described Pulled Apart By Horses as ‘a bunch of Yorkshire wusses who suck ass compared to Glassjaw‘. I am about 85% sure he never said that. He was way more of a Poison Idea fan, back in the day.
*please note that 1537 Inc. do not endorse or encourage running around in little circles really fast until you fall over and knock yourselves out; you are better than that readers.
**you have to love that word, bring it back I say.
