I like bands that can describe their music in interesting ways. Seattle/Tacoma's Motopony describes their music as "glitch folk", "hard soul", and "hope and roll", and they sum it up as "Chief Seattle's revenge channeled through a hybrid engine drone". My translation is that Motopony plays indie pop with folk elements and a persuasive, but restrained, use of electronics. And on their recently released album, Motopony, they also are innovative and adventurous in finding ways to delight their listeners.
Motopony's flexibility is demonstrated by the first three tracks on the album. Album opener, "June", is an engaging dream pop piece reminiscent of Cloud Cult. The second track, the catchy "King of Diamonds", is the first single. Some have compared it to Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah, but vocally and in terms of rhythm it reminds me of Rusted Root. In it, vocalist Daniel Blue sings of searching for something he realizes that he already has:
Motopony - King Of Diamonds from tinyOGRE on Vimeo.
"Seer", the following track, takes a very different approach, laying down a sinuous groove. While lyrically introspective, musically it is an invigorating bit of funk from the glitch poppers.
The band consists of Daniel Blue (vocals and guitar), Buddy Ross (beats and keyboards), Brantley Cady (lead guitar), and Forrest Mauvais (drums). Their ablum is on the tinyOGRE Entertainment label. The band presents many interesting facets: Excellent songwriting; a marriage of electronic and organic instrumentation; and unusual tunings. This debut album, and all of its components are a success, but it might be worth buying just for the gorgeous "God Damn Girl", which begins with the repeated phrase 'God damn girl your wounds are beautiful'. I don't have a studio recording of the song to share with you, but here is a version from a live show.
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