HORSE The Band: Desperate Living

Have you ever been halfway through a game of Super Mario Bros. on the NES and thought, "I like this soundtrack, but it'd be miles better if it was backed by some metal". Well, someone did.

Chiptune music, or Nintendocore for those who don't recognise a genre unless it ends in -core, is just that. Music constructed around bleeps and blips made from a retro computer system. Crystal Castles meld it with dance, Karate High School mix it with pop-punk and HORSE the Band amalgamate it with experimental metal.

The effect of this combination is music you can shake your head to, but never evaporate the perennial smile on your face. HtB have a knack for not merely relying on the novelty factor inherent in their sound, no, laurels are not rested on. Even without the cheery 8-bit melodies, HORSE the Band are a metal force to be reckoned with: combining illustrious passages of serene guitars before crushing them beneath mounds of cataclysmic noise. Title track "Desperate Living" does all of the above, initiating with a softly ascending seeming ode to Gaia before ramping it up to effusive post-rock stylings which then segue into a harsh, yet distinctive chorus. Many transitions of tone, mood and tenacity later and we end the song on the hilarious observation of "human goals, are like the numbers plumbed from the pipes of life / I'm a plumber, but what I plumb is the fruit of infinity / I'm deeper than infinity, so infinite that I make infinity look like a four". Straight jacket, table two please, and we mean that in a good way.

Scoring as high on the inventiveness scale is "Shapeshift", managing to craft a dark, sombre rumination of a song which utilises its electronic edge perfectly. The tunnelling spoken-word sections propel the track to darker depths only for them to emerge sporadically for uncharacteristically cheery passages. It's like having Jack Dee conduct a funeral, you know you should be sad, yet there's the ever-present joy in your heart.

You could throw around the words "unfocused" and "lacking cohesion", and you'd be quite justified in your verbal assault. While the band are endlessly creative in their sounds, rarely is this talent used to create a flowing narrative. Instead, each song feels like a quick tour through a musical theme park. The changes are too abrupt, the modus operandi behind them seems to be wilful ignorance of structuring rules and the progression of each songs can feel forced as a result.

Bands such as Circle Takes the Square and Genghis Tron have proven that you can build weaving and intricate song structures and yet still retain a semblance of sanity about the whole thing without handing thyself over to schizophrenia. 

Desperate Living therefore comes across as more of a mosaic than an album. There could easily be 412 songs here, instead of the advised twelve. Mosaic can form images and patterns if you look hard enough though, and for the devoted fans willing to pore over every abstract detail, we daresay the rewards will be present. The more casual fan though, will still be able to enjoy a splendidly unpredictable thrill ride through the worlds of electro, punk, metal, pop, ambient, indie and post-rock.

They won't even need a fringe or a glow-stick either. Bonus!