New Young Pony Club - The Optimist

Taking New Wave influences and turning them into posturing New Rave disco was undeniably fun but, despite boasting some shimmering songs and a gutsy frontwoman in Ty Bulmer, New Young Pony Club always came across as poorer cousins to the likes of Klaxons. Three years on, with New Rave being little but a memory, one might wonder how relevant the arrival of a sophomore album from NYPC is. However, while Klaxons interminably stutter over the release of their follow-up record, it turns out that NYPC have grown up and changed with the times.

Self-produced, self-funded and self-released, The Optimist leaves aside the smutty winks, nudges and the shiny, throwaway disco of Fantastic Playroom in favour of a tighter, darker sound with lyrics that show genuine emotional depth. Lost a Girl opens the album with Bulmer taking a deep breath before bursting into a quick-fire verse that shows a newfound vulnerability to her lyrics, “I’m making you smile/Why am I doing that?” Some great hooks, crescendos and big choruses later, and it’s enough to make the once delicious Ice Cream seem flimsy and banal in comparison. This strong start continues with Chaos, as Bulmer’s deliberate drone morphs into another catchy chorus over handclaps.

As the album ebbs and flows, the occasional brooding moments - like the electro-ballad, Stone - counterbalance its dancey edge, giving things a well-rounded feel. The Optimist is the sound of a band shedding its glossy skin and showing what’s inside. Put simply, this is a really strong comeback from New Young Pony Club.

New Young Pony Club at Oxford Art Factory

NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB
YOUNG LOVERS
HOOPS
Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst
06/08/08

After supercool all-girl DJ team HOOPS had done a good job in warming up the crowd, Young Lovers took over with their pleasant enough brand of indie-pop-rock. While at times the Melbourne five-piece’s songs felt a little derivative - from the occasional Arctic Monkeys bassline to an unashamed rip-off of U2’s With Or Without You - their set was generally enjoyable and showed plenty of potential. Although there was perhaps a bit too much rock posturing going on, not least from the female bassist, their tunes were big, bold and brimming with energy, even if they did feel slightly familiar at times.

After a lengthy wait, during which time HOOPS once again got the crowd moving, England’s new-wave/electro collective New Young Pony Club finally bowled onto stage with keyboardist Lou Hayter looking typically elegant all in black and guitarist Andy Spence having a sartorial nightmare in a yellow/grey T-shirt and red jeans. It was vocalist Tahita Bulmer (above) that all eyes rested upon though. Proving herself to be one of the best frontwomen around at the moment, and boasting a new, bleached blonde haircut, the singer exploded around the stage like a firebomb, spitting lyrics and oozing charisma with her between-song banter.

Getting things going with Get Lucky and Grey, the quintet was confident enough to throw away disco-funk track Ice Cream very early on in the set. Sure, we’ve all heard it a million times before, yet live it still sounds as sexy and exciting as it ever did and, of course, sent the crowd absolutely nuts. More bands should consider discarding their signature tune in such a way rather than leaving it for the encore, as, once it was out of the way, the set seemed free to go in any direction.

After rattling through more tracks from their debut and a few newies, Bulmer threatened: “This might be our last song,” and stated they would only encore if she saw the audience sweat during a rousing rendition of The Bomb. Cue enough enthusiasm from a full room to warrant a couple more tunes, including an interesting version of Squeeze’s Take Me I’m Yours. The night ended with The Get Go, but not before Bulmer had received a few marriage proposals from the crowd, along with one slightly less romantic shout of: “I would straight up nail you.”