• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Greater Boston's Alternative News Source

OFF TO THE RACES: HORSE JUMPER OF LOVE ON DEBUT LP FANS HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR

Written by NINA CORCORAN Posted March 15, 2016 Filed Under: Interviews, MUSIC

Photo by Caitlin McCann
Photo by Caitlin McCann

There’s a passage in an old Ovid poem where the Roman poet tries to win back a woman. Upset and desperate to revive their relationship, he spews out a bunch of words, hoping they will please her. One of the lines, when translated, is the type of strange, awkwardly-worded confession that only translation can make possible: “I am not a horse jumper of love.”

 

That phrase fits Horse Jumper of Love’s sound so well that the band claimed it as its moniker. Formed at the end of 2013, the slow-rock act set out to play music that captured what the members were feeling. Comprised of 22-year-old singer-guitarist Dimitri Giannopoulos, 23-year-old bassist John Margaris, and 19-year-old drummer Jamie Vadala-Doran, Horse Jumper of Love finds itself at the intersection of Silver Jews, Boards of Canada, and The Microphones, the latter of which can be heard in nearly all of the songwriting. Since the three were right in the throes of young adulthood during this time, that meant revising their work over and over again until it shifted from shoegaze to folk rock to near-metal groans. Finally, they have a debut full-length, Horse Jumper of Love, to merit their ruthless revisions.

 

“[Ovid] is saying that no one in the world could make him feel happier than her,” explains Giannopoulos. “He’s trying to say, ‘I’m not a fickle lover.’” But is Giannopoulos? Horse Jumper of Love’s music—much of which toils in love, a lackthereof, and the inherent battle to deal with the wrath that brings on—comes out in a sad, understated way. There are weighted crescendos, ferocious drum segments, gentle acoustic strums, and ambient waves of electronic all thrown together with emotive thread. Giannopoulos’ love life isn’t detailed in liner notes, but his sonic emotions switch so quickly that it’s hard to pretend his connection with Ovid isn’t a straightforward map.

 

 

For such heavy sound, the three musicians behind it keep relatively quiet, especially when it comes to talking about themselves. Inversely, the one topic they all open up about with ease is anxiety. As soon as the nervousness embedded in their music is questioned, they chirp up, talking over one another excitedly. “Me and John’s friendship is based on anxiety, but we comfort each other; Jamie comforts us, too,” explains Giannopoulos. “I feel like songs, for me, are a way to purge certain feelings out of you. I still feel the songs, but I don’t feel how I felt when I made them. That’s a different time in my life. I’m over it, you know?”

 

Horse Jumper of Love whittles its way through nervous ticks by latching on to sometimes mundane, sometimes lavish, always sharp imagery. There’s spilled bleach on a shirt in “Ugly Brunette”. There’s crumbs in the bottom of a backpack on “Bagel Breath”. There’s a gross mixture of juice and soil in “DIRT”. Every lyric Giannopoulos writes, he writes with the intent of exposing minute triggers welded into our memory. “It’s hard to say what you feel and it’s easier to write a song,” he says. So out come the struggles that 19-year-olds—like he was at the time he wrote the songs—go through.

 

“If you look at Dimitri’s merits in the context of one song, it’s almost like the phrases are describing details in the background of something that could be a consistent narrative, almost,” says Margaris. “It makes the visual sum something kind of abstract, but those details probably have weight and particulars to him. Then the way that it’s sung or performed emotes that. I don’t think they’re ever as simple as being something sad or funny because there’s both of that in the songs, especially since the body of songs we’re talking about were written at a time when you’re dealing with a lot of that at a young age. Being pulled between different feelings can do that.”

 

 

Horse Jumper of Love’s music couldn’t be simple if they tried. Sometimes that indecisiveness hinders the album, but over time, those uncertainties add charm to an otherwise heavy release. With spring—and then summer—right around the corner, the band’s debut LP is a soon-to-be-needed escape from budding flowers, beachy waves, and earnest asides from strangers telling you to smile. You don’t always need to be happy. Horse Jumper of Love take that and run with it, tripping over sticks and stones in the process, but never once letting up to stop for breath.

 

HORSE JUMPER OF LOVE. AVAILABLE 3.11 VIA GAWK RECORDS AND DISPOSABLE AMERICA.

NINA CORCORAN
+ posts
    This author does not have any more posts.

Filed Under: Interviews, MUSIC Tagged With: 2016, Boards of Canada, Boston, debut album, Dig, DigBoston, Disposable America, Horse Jumper of Love, Indie Rock, Interview, Jamaica Plain, Lo-Fi, Mount Eerie, Music, rock, Silver Jews, Slow Rock, The Microphones, Vundabar

WHAT’S NEW

State Wire: Mass Launches Free Legal Advice Hotline Regarding Abortion Care

State Wire: Mass Launches Free Legal Advice Hotline Regarding Abortion Care

State Wire: Mass Bill Would Tighten Restrictions On Facial Recognition Technology

State Wire: Mass Bill Would Tighten Restrictions On Facial Recognition Technology

Mass Higher Ed Advocates Urge More Investment In Students 

Mass Higher Ed Advocates Urge More Investment In Students 

Guest Opinion: Promoting Metal Detectors In BPS Perpetuates Dangerous Narrative

Guest Opinion: Promoting Metal Detectors In BPS Perpetuates Dangerous Narrative

State Wire: Mass Leads Nation In 'Green' Building Development

State Wire: Mass Leads Nation In ‘Green’ Building Development

State Wire: Mass Advocates Of Higher Ed Set Goals For Fair Share Revenue

State Wire: Mass Advocates Of Higher Ed Set Goals For Fair Share Revenue

Primary Sidebar

LOCAL EVENTS

AAN Wire


Most Popular

  • Think Massachusetts Cannabis Prices Are Low Now? Just Wait Six Months!
  • Why Are Cannabis Prices Really Crashing?
  • A New Beginning For Formerly Incarcerated Women
  • Jerrod Carmichael Has First Show After Coming Out—At the Wilbur In Boston
  • Dig This: Thousands Of Furries Flocking To Anthro New England 

Footer

Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Advertise

Customer Service

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an email blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: sales@digboston.com To reach editorial (and for inquiries about internship opportunities): editorial@digboston.com