Blackstrap misses target on Steal My Horses

Swedish band Blackstrap’s new album Steal My Horses and Run is the musical equivalent of a… Swedish band Blackstrap’s new album Steal My Horses and Run is the musical equivalent of a painting with no focal point ‘mdash; there isn’t anything especially bad about it, but it’s not spectacular enough to hang over a fireplace. Blackstrap strives for gritty pop rock on its sophomore album, Steal My Horses and Run. The album’s songs are good, but not great. It’s background music rather than something to really sit down and listen to. Some tracks fail to fully draw in listeners with catchy choruses and big hooks. Maybe this is what Blackstrap wanted ‘mdash; rebellion against the countless other bands that alter its songs to something more radio friendly. While this is admirable, the album might leave listeners itching for something that leaves a bit more of an impact. Lately, Sweden has practically become synonymous with ‘up and coming,’ and Blackstrap certainly found its place among the slew of fresh talent constantly emerging from the country’s chilly depths. Blackstrap sounds like angsty alt-rock band Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, with co-ed vocals that add a refreshing dimension to its music. Maria Linden, the girl power of the group, has a voice similar to Maria Taylor. Her ethereal croons conjure a parallel to the band’s namesake: Blackstrap, a bitterly sweet variety of molasses, seems to describe her voice precisely. Meanwhile, Jonatan Westh’s husky vocals keep the group grounded to its rocker roots. The band’s sound is often described as shoegaze, the term of the ’90s for heavy reliance on the effects pedal ‘mdash; band members had to look down, gazing at their shoes, to press the pedal. The album certainly goes heavy on the synthesizer effects, making ‘psychedelic’ an obvious addition to the genre description. If The Dandy Warhols or Spoon were mellower and less catchy, they’d be Blackstrap. It’s easy to imagine mournful tracks like ‘Take Your Time’ playing on ‘The OC’ while Marissa does something dramatic. ‘ Steal My Horses and Run marries two types of music: pop rock and ethereal ballads, with a mid-album divide between the two genres. ‘Winning Speech’ starts the album out on an energetic note. Westh jams along with fast pace and amped guitars, making this an engaging, head-bobbing choice for an opening track. The following track, ‘Rough Parade,’ allows Linden to step up to the plate and strike a similar feel. This energy starts to fizzle out, unfortunately, around track five. The album begins to get sleepy with ‘Too Far Gone’ and never fully wakes back up. The latter half of Steal My Horses walks a dangerous line of sounding homogenous. If it weren’t for the continuous turn-taking between Linden and Westh for lead vocals, many of the tracks would sound exactly the same. While the ballads aren’t bad, they don’t leave a whole lot of resonance. ‘Still Sore,’ though an exception to the aforementioned monotony as the album’s only acoustic track, seems almost out of place in its delicacy. Even Linden’s vocals can’t rescue this skippable track. Blackstrap recorded Steal My Horses and Run in Amsterdam in 2006, but it wasn’t until the spring of this year that the album finally made its way overseas. The band will follow its album and begin its North American tour, which includes a stop in Pittsburgh on Oct. 19.