They Shoot Horses Don’t They? Issue #27

Boo Hoo Hoo Boo (Kill Rock Stars)

By Anne C. Johnson
Published: March 1st, 2006 | 12:00am

It’s difficult not to mention the 1969 Sidney Pollack film (based on the 1935 novel by purportedly underrated writer Horace McCoy) They Shoot Horses Don’t They?, after which this band is named. This relentlessly claustrophobic film was about the desperate lives of participants in a Depression-era dance marathon. This seven-piece Vancouver-based band –despite meditating upon the mundane – are considerably more uplifting.

On Boo Hoo Hoo Boo, They Shoot Horses are appearing once again under the big top on this, their first full-length album. The music from this marching band of a group is a celebratory and beautifully sloppy circus with consistently engagingly arranged songs. And no, just because there are horns in the line up (trombone, alto, and baritone saxophone, which are terrific), this is not a ska band. Listeners who appreciate a little less structure will take pleasure in the swirling discord of They Shoot Horses fairly skewed vision.

The band seems confused that most people tend to focus upon the festive aspects and not pick up on the anxiety that lurks beneath the surface. But They Shoot Horses Don’t They — and the Fall and others before them — use their humor and rejoice in the absurdity of life in a way that, like the MC in the film, may make you want to yell, “Yowza.” If you want discomfort, see the movie or read the book.