I first came across London’s indie-electronica 5 piece, New Young Pony Club during the inception of NME’s overwhelming swarm of new rave bullshit, which for some reason, has yet to fade and diminish. Which is odd, considering the band paramount to all this nonsense, Klaxons, have shunned away the concept of new rave themselves.
Anyway, so when reluctantly opening NYPC’s debut, I was foolishly expecting a barrage of more anthems for doomed youth, exemplified by the likes of the aptly titled Shitdisco. Songs that encouraged adolescents to march forward, proudly bearing their glowsticks and only halting to re-adjust their genital mutilating jeans. Thankfully, I was wrong, and the album was a glorious reminder of why I should never trust anything written in NME!
From opener, ‘Get Lucky‘ all the way through to this album’s denouement, Tahita Bulmer and her posse invite us in to their truly fantastic playroom accompanied by wickedly whippy basslines and teasingly seductive, borderline provocative lyrics. Persistently head nodding and hip shaking the NYPC make a fine effort at blending the spice of indie rock with the undoubtedly cool aspects of dance funk, without ever once sounding like a teen trend that will vanish after one album. ‘Fantastic Playroom’ is unmistakably groovy, and that’s a word I don’t think I’ve ever said before in my life. My, my.
Up in the player is a prime example of what’s great about this album. Entitled ‘Jerk Me‘, it will do just that to every limb of your body. Enjoy!