BOWERBIRDS
"DARK HORSE"
from the album HYMNS FOR A DARK HORSE
WORDS: CHRISTOPHER THOMPSON
When the Bowerbirds come to stage with "Dark Horse", you know immediately that you're not getting a rock band. A sole bass drum rests in the middle of the floor as the lone percussive instrument among a collective of stringed instruments made from wood with the leaves and twigs still attached. And yet it is the minimal, off time beat of this sole drum that makes "Dark Horse" the most memorable song from Bowerbirds' environmentally-conscious new album, Hymns for A Dark Horse.
The lyrics recall a wintry scene, where a voice sings of a simple country life. In this life, self-chopped "cords of oak keep this wood stove burning" in upstate New York. Animals talk with a folky twang to match the dusty plucked guitar as Beth Tacular, Phil Moore and Mark Paulson spin their short tale about winter's bitter winds and the fires -- both chemical and communitarian -- that keep these winds at bay. It's a credit to the warmth of the band's easy familiarity with each other that they turn such bleak subject matter into a friendly occasion, rather than the down-and-out Edith Wharton misery it could so easily be.
The chorus's bright violin prelude and male/female vocal partnership feint towards polit-folk, but can't entirely hide the catchiness underneath that slowly unfolds with each listen. Under the layers of woodsy debris and environmental altruism, the song is simply pretty; it channels the kind of good spirit that keeps fires burning within wherever the cold works and waits outside the door. Slip into a sweater, park yourself on the back porch, and enjoy.