Boston trio Horse Jumper of Love return with their fifth album, Disaster Trick. The full band, comprised of Dimitri Giannopoulos (vocals/guitars), John Margaris (bass), and James Doran (drums), are back together following the intimate Heartbreak Rules (2023), an LP attributed to the group but really a Giannopoulos solo effort. Disaster Trick was recorded at Drop of Sun Studios in Asheville, North Carolina. Accordingly, it features contributions from local musicians Karly Hartzman and MJ Lenderman of Wednesday (who seem to be everywhere these days) and their friend Ella Williams of Squirrel Flower. Those guest appearances do not alter the sound in any distinctive way, as Horse Jumper of Love remain focused on making music that is stripped down and equal parts heavy and gentle.
Since the last time we heard from Horse Jumper of Love, Giannopoulos has gotten sober, and Disaster Trick should be considered in that light. Giannopoulos said, “This was the first album I’ve ever done where I went into it with a very clear mind.” The group have framed this record as a creative reset; the attempt to distill their sound down to its essence aligns with that new sense of clarity. Disaster Trick contains some highlights, but it also plods along in a weary haze at times, a fog that is lifted only during all-too-brief moments of catharsis.
The opener, “Snow Angel”, positions Horse Jumper of Love as part of the shoegaze renaissance, not out of line with an act like DIIV, a commonality that can also be heard on “Lip Reader”. In “Snow Angel”, Giannopoulos’ guitar solo grates against the melody, stopping shy of those forbearers who took a screwdriver to the axe. Beyond their sonic prowess, those tracks teem with life that is harder to find elsewhere on Disaster Trick. For anyone with enough patience, there is a considerable amount of energy in the last 30 seconds of “Wait by the Stairs”, which exhibits qualities heard in Jeremy Enigk’s the Fire Theft. In addition, the closer “Nude Descending”, bounces along with angular sounds similar to Pavement or Slint. Predominately, Horse Jumper of Love favor subdued sounds throughout much of the LP.
Giannopoulos is not shy about his love of loud and soft sounds but more subtly than a band like Mount Eerie, to which they are sometimes compared. Some of the early tracks are thought-providing, with lyrics like “And your arms have never looked / More empty than that they do from here” (“Wink”) and a reference to the Amazon Basics Bible (“Today’s Iconoclast”). “Word” soon downshifts into a lamentation. With spare drums and simple but slowly pronounced guitar chords, the track emanates melancholy. Giannopoulos sings, “Last night we had a fight / You blamed it on the moon / But that’s not very fair to the moon.” That, and other songs, like “Death Spiral”, call Songs: Ohia‘s most brooding elegies to mind.
Despite Giannopoulos’ admission that he was “being a brat” on previous recordings, the band chose to rework the nearly decade-old “Gates of Heaven”, which describes an earlier version of himself, with references to being late to work and “toxic inactivity”. The all-too-brief track works in the way the most sad-sack Pedro the Lion or American Analog Set tunes resonate with this same listener base.
Disaster Trick takes a certain resolve to meet on its own terms. The immediate hook and familiar sound of “Snow Angel” cannot be denied, but those brilliant moments are few and far between. For an album running at just over 30 minutes, Horse Jumper of Love plant seeds that will hopefully germinate live. Unfortunately, listeners will experience a few songs clocking in at just over two minutes that go through multiple iterations with no clear direction, including “Curtains” and “Word”. The record has potential but, at times, can be equally monotonous.
Disaster Trick contains some of the best moments in Horse Jumper of Love’s catalog. Giannopoulos clearly approached it with a new sense of urgency, and there’s a clarity of vision in his songwriting. However, the album lacks cohesion, not just their tendency to deliver songs of sonic variance. A few tracks, such as “Snow Angel”, “Wink”, and “Gates of Heaven” make the LP a worthwhile listen, but Disaster Trick as a whole will only appeal to their most devoted fans.