The Golden Animals Issue #37

Free Your Mind and Win a Pony (HappyParts)

By Nicole Sheikh
Published: September 1st, 2008 | 5:58pm

Some musicians spend years tooling around a garage studio and listening to old records, trying to glean some inspiration from chords and riffs dreamed up by their idols yet ultimately trying to create a sound all their own. For the Golden Animals (comprised of Baltimore’s Tommy Eisner and Northern Sweden’s Linda Beecroft), it took five isolated months in the California desert to produce Free Your Mind And Win a Pony, the duo’s first release that, though ambitious, calls to mind those dead idols. Their music evokes a blend of sun-drenched psychedelic, acid-tinged blues-rock that calls to mind an era of music when folk, country, blues, and rocknroll could blend together.

The album starts out strong, featuring the best track of the record, “Queen Mary (the Flop),” by the second song. Eisner’s electric guitar riffs slide over the steady, rolling rhythm of Beecroft’s drumming, with distorted vocals adding depth to the sound. The album is rife with hits and feels too short, clocking in at just less than 31 minutes.

Eisner’s voice is deep, dark, and moving, like Johnny Cash’s gruffness meeting Devendra Banhart’s serenade, while Beecroft’s croon is soft, light, and sweet. Though different as night and day, the two combined in harmony strike a balance that is beautiful and haunting. Their lyrics, though simple, recount stories of life, love, and loss — a true reflection of their deep blues roots: “There’s sunshine and there’s night / There’s darkness and light / I’m leaving tomorrow / I’ll love you tonight,” sing Eisner and Beecroft on the album’s closer, “Darkness & Light.”

Unlike some classically inspired acts, the Golden Animals pool from a wide stylistic range but manage to keep a strong focus on their style. Free Your Mind And Win a Pony is for the true blue old school rocknroll fans.

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