Troubled Horse: Step Inside

New rocking Swedes land.

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Spiders, Nasum, the singer from The Cardigans. And now, Troubled Horse join the muso glitterati of Örebro, Sweden. Two members even hail from fellow Örebro-ites Witchcraft (and bassist Ola still plays for both), but while doom and psych/folk tinges prevail, the perturbed pony is an altogether more garage rock-led beast.

Gratifying kicks are found on southern/bluesy classic rock solo moments peppered across the record. Another Man’s Name is great, channelling a hard-rocking ZZ Top crossbred with Graveyard, recorded in a tin can in Texas.

Moments like these, and the gritty vibe throughout, go some way to compensating for slacker points. Fears, for instance, seems ready to wander off like the distressed nag of its makers’ namesake, until it suddenly perks up with an urgent garage stomp. Some tightening to be done then, but a very attractive prospect worth watching out for.

Polly Glass
Deputy Editor, Classic Rock

Polly is deputy editor at Classic Rock magazine, where she writes and commissions regular pieces and longer reads (including new band coverage), and has interviewed rock's biggest and newest names. She also contributes to Louder, Prog and Metal Hammer and talks about songs on the 20 Minute Club podcast. Elsewhere she's had work published in The Musician, delicious. magazine and others, and written biographies for various album campaigns. In a previous life as a women's magazine junior she interviewed Tracey Emin and Lily James – and wangled Rival Sons into the arts pages. In her spare time she writes fiction and cooks.