The optimist – New Young Pony Club
London cool kids New Young Pony Club’s 2007 debut Fantastic Playroom was heavy on style but short on substance, awesome single Ice Cream aside. Their follow-up is an altogether darker, meatier offering. The synth-pop sound remains, but this time married to songs that sound more influenced by Siouxsie and the Banshees than the Ting Tings. Frontwoman Tahita Bulmer’s vocals have also lost some of the arch, bored inflection that made Playroom too trendy by half: there’s genuine emotion behind songs like the new-wave single Lost A Girl or the moody Stone.
