Crash, The - Pony Ride (Album)
If folk from Finland have a reputation for being cheerful and merry, then their latest musical export, The Crash, do a fine job of strengthening this perception. Their third album release (but first in Australia), Pony Ride, is full of party disco tracks, lush melodies and positive songs about love and desire. Right in time for our summer!
Before we get into the specifics of Pony Ride and why it can become the next feel-good hit album, a little band history will be handy, for this Finnish foursome from its capital Helsinki is not as new a musical entity as may seem. In fact they are somewhat stars in the Nordic region of Europe. They released their debut album, Comfort Deluxe in 1999 and its follow up Wildlife in 2001 and both reached gold status in Finland. By 2002 they’d had top three singles in neighbouring Sweden and Denmark and swiftly progressed to the lucrative German market. Their big break came when they supported A-Ha (still going strong in Europe) in front of a 60,000 plus audience and received widespread coverage throughout Europe when their music was used in E-Bay ads. Pony Ride was released overseas in 2006, reaching number 2 in Finland, and finally reaches our shores in October, via a licensing deal that the band signed in January 2007 with Melbourne’s Rubber Records.
Pony Ride is bright, happy, cheeky and jumps out of the speakers so delightfully. The Crash’s influences are speckled carefully on several songs – they are definitely not hidden – but as a complete body of work, it’s a fresh sounding album. In fact, if Euro-disco makes a comeback, this album can take part of the credit for spearheading it. 70s disco anthem ‘Lauren’ fits perfectly on the dance floor, possessing a classic, timeless European disco feel complete with obscure French lyrics backed by accordion – plucked straight out of the streets of Paris! ‘Stalker’ keeps The Crash on the dancefloor but this time they’ve slowed the pace to a dreamy, romantic one.
First single release, and title track, is SO GOOD!! An excellent choice as the song by which to introduce The Crash to a new audience, ‘Pony Ride’ is very catchy: once its melodies and lyrics are implanted in your memory, believe me, they’ll remain there. If lush keys and harmonies, whoo-hoo and ooh-laa-laa-laa aren’t your thing, then this will take a bit of getting used to. It can also take a while to get your ears around vocalist Teemu Brunila’s feminine vocals, quirky voice and accent (‘I lost you’ becomes ‘I lusht you’ on elegant piano ballad ‘Grace’) but ‘Pony Ride’ has that indefinable quality that lures you in. And if the sonics don’t, the lyrics will: “In a dream I was on a pony ride with you / do you see a guy like me and a girl like you / shagging by the fire, on a honeymoon / because that could be reality to you and me / if you just get what I’ve got and that is a frickin’ lot.” Sweet, fun, fuzzy…and naughty! ‘Big Ass Love’ retains the disco-pop sensibilities while introducing some soulful rhythm and funky guitar.
“Pony Ride” is being marketed as an album ‘ready made for party girls and disco boys’, and in essence that’s quite accurate. Fun, party music is the strength and uniqueness of this album, and there’s a good dose of variety within those songs. Yet when The Crash venture from disco pop, they do so with style. ‘Solitudinarian’ and ‘Reasons to Sing’ are stripped of any disco fun to reveal the band’s talent to write serious but enjoyable indie pop songs and ‘Thorn In My Side’, like ‘Grace’, shows a flair for thoughtful, sad ballads. And most importantly, there’s no cheesy, brainless pop to be found.
Rubber Records knew a good thing when they encountered (and signed) it; let’s hope Australian music listeners recognise the good (and fun and mischievous) qualities and sensations of The Crash’s Pony Ride.
