Pitchfork

A horse is a horse is a horse (of course), but for Toronto's Rock Plaza Central, a horse is an animal ripe for lyrical personification. Not just any ol' horse, mind you: "Robotic horses who think they are real horses"-- as the band's MySpace claims-- is the premise behind their entire self-released LP Are We Not Horses. Um, yikes, dudes! But suspend disbelief a moment and ride this one out, as you'll soon find the promising septet thoughtfully treating their unlikely equine subjects with a heckuva lot more pathos, nuance, and scope than, say, your standard episode of "Mr. Ed".

Are We Not Horses first hits its stride with "My Children, Be Joyful", a majestic, celebratory hymn in the ramshackle fashion of Neutral Milk Hotel. (Like, maybe to the point that lots of people would be hard-pressed to tell the two apart.) But the song doesn't (ahem) horse around as much as others on the album, instead tackling a more ambiguous and universally applicable set of themes, making it an ideal introduction to an act with a wild idea that somehow works. And we ain't pulling your tail there.

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#0052 > Rock Plaza Central: "My Children, Be Joyful"
[from Are We Not Horses; self-released]
Info: [Rock Plaza Central] | [MySpace]

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// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:
#0051: Deerhunter: "Spring Hall Convert"
#0050: Benoît Pioulard: "Palimend"
#0049: Frida Hyvönen: "I Drive My Friend"
#0048: Turbulence: "Notorious"
#0047: I'm From Barcelona: "We're From Barcelona"
#0046: Christopher Willits: "Colors Shifting"
#0000: All Previous Infinite Mixtape Entries