Pagina's

Saturday, May 1, 2010

CONCERTREVIEW : NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB (BRUSSELS, BOTANIQUE)



It came all a bit unexpected to be honest but when I first heard the second album, "The Optimist", by Londoners New Young Pony Club, I just shrug my shoulders but something like a week later (things can go fast) this album turned out to be one of the current faves.
Reason is simple : their previous "Fantastic Playroom" reminded us to the B52's, but on the second one there is a great enrichment from dark poppy synths that could have come from early Yazoo or Human League-records.
This metamorphose was shown in Brussels as well.
I was a bit confused to see that these five-piece band managed in almost outselling the Rotonde-venue in the Botanique but in the end, all you can conclude is that it was more than deserved.
A surprise, certainly if opener "Chaos" sounded like the title suggested which made me fear the worst but as soon as frontwoman Tahita started "Get lucky" we got reminded to Delta 5.
And with such reminders nothing can go wrong!
Every track by New Young Pony Club reminds you of something else, all 80's-like mind you, and that goes from New Order, Joy Division, Adam & The Ants to even stuff like Toni Basil (the one-hit wonder from "Mickey").
Not that they're that retro as they played a mindblowing electro-synthpopversion from PJ Harvey's "Dress" to show that they're not that stuck in the 80's.
Tahita may look like she comes straight out of a video from Kid Creole & The Coconuts (or worser 2 Unlimited) but she did her job quite well.
Female drummer Sarah Jones kept it all tight in a nice post-punkway and some investigation learnt us that she also drums for Bat For Lashes.
Big star though was Lou Hayter who managed to let the venue sound like it was 1985 as her synthplaying (the rest of her was mindblowing too, for your information that is) and with that in mind we could only conclude that New Young Pony Club can be considered as one of the finest synthpopbands from this moment.
Catch 'em if U can!

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