STANDS - Horse Fabulous

Second album from the Stands, a Liverpool quartet led by Howie Payne, who managed to draw attention at home with last year's debut, "All Years Living". The album impressed critics and industry insiders first and foremost, and the Stands ended up opening for Oasis and Libertines. You can probably already guess what the band's sound is about: but to be fair, English pop isn't their only influence, since the group often looks to the United States as well, especially to the Byrds (though not only them).

This sophomore effort - "Horse Fabulous" - can be framed as a brief primer on pop, written with class and diligence, full of lovely songs. "Turn the World Around" is sung in an Oasis register, but sound-wise it looks far more poetically towards Love (though without even aiming to capture their depth): over a bed of acoustic guitars and skipping bass, horn intrusions make their appearance, along with brief violin flourishes, electric guitars and vaguely country-ish plucking. If the track can already be considered something of a mini-manifesto for the band, the following ones actually raise the bar even further in terms of quality. Starting with the heavily Kinks-indebted pop-rock of "Soon Come", well-paced on electric guitars and handclaps, with a great surge in the final crescendo and the usual American undertone carried by harmonica counterpoints; continuing through the tender, colourful stroll of "Back to You", with Beatlesque harmonies and flirtatious slide guitar; and sliding into rock territory with the full-blown anthem "Do lt Like You Like".

Even when it doesn't quite reach those aforementioned peaks, the band's revivalism still flows along very pleasantly and persuasively, and its broad scope keeps the listener's attention alive throughout. So it happens that we run into early Pink Floyd, with the Barrett-esque opening of the psych-rock "Nearer Than Green", which suddenly derails into the ethereal arpeggios of the Beatles' "Because", replicated with precision; or Van Morrison in the sprightly horns that adorn the sweet, sun-drenched "Just Enough Love". Then we even end up on a beach with the calypso of "When the Night Falls In", a lively little surf tune, while "I Will Journey Home" drops the British mask entirely and launches into a country sketch.

These are all tracks worth paying attention to. The Stands show variety and even talent, even if it's hidden behind models that are perhaps too imposing. All that's missing is a touch of emancipation to help the band take the next step: but clear proof of just how much good there is in this "Horse Fabulous" comes with the orchestral instrumental "Mountains Blue And the World Through My Window", featuring mandolins, aching piano notes, pulsing bass, violins and guitar arpeggios - a genuinely intense track, worthy of the "greats", a poetic tableau like dew-drenched Calexico.

A record well worth discovering, despite its rather calligraphic approach.

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30/04/2026