It’s A Pizza Party!

by Pete Aleksa

“We couldn't decide if we should stay in Chicago and keep eating pizza for the rest of our lives. But after two days of rigorous theory, we realized we had to write divine music about the pizza. We decided to drive home immediately and write and record a 5-song EP called ‘Pizza’ before Sounds of the Underground and Warped Tour started. God was there,” came the website explanation from HORSE the Band as to why they made an early exit from their recent tour slot opening for Gatsby’s American Dream and Portugal. the Man. HORSE fans, accustomed to the irreverent posts found on the band’s website, may have been surprised to discover that this posting actually spoke the truth. After leaving the tour, the band did, in fact, write and record an EP extolling the divine properties of this delicious modern-American dietary staple (no confirmation on whether or not God was there). Entitled Pizza, the CD-EP was released on September 5, 2006 with a limited edition vinyl EP, encased in a pizza box, to follow in the near future.
Musically, the Pizza EP is an oddly catchy amalgamation of hardcore, punk, synth pop, grind, and lo-fi electronica. The rhythm section remains rock solid throughout, while the keyboard serves up countless helpings of cheesy brilliance (oh god, the puns) and the guitar work, while not showy, is nonetheless impressive, providing an excellent counterbalance to the keys. Of note is the last thirty seconds of the second track, Crippled by Pizza (Pizzarrhea in the Pizzeria), featuring an odd timed riff played by a compressed guitar that is the most spectacularly strange section of music on the album. And, as played out as the comparison between HORSE’s music and various video game music is these days, I must mention one of the high points of the album are the eerie melodies found in the track Werepizza, reminiscent of the background music one would find in the NES-classic, Castlevania, or the B-horror scroller, Zombies Ate My Neighbors.
True to the bizarre nature of the album, the Pizza EP ends with a tongue in cheek cover of the beloved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song. While the comic rendition of the pizza-loving Turtles theme is a cleverly funny addition, and one that fits with the theme of the album, it ultimately does not bear repeated listens. After the initial run through I found myself skipping the track on subsequent trips through the album.
I’m not quite sure of what to make of the ongoing pizza leitmotiv. My enjoyment of this joke seemed to move in cycles, from the initial chuckle at such a ridiculous premise, to a growing annoyance with the joke, to a point where the joke had run on for such an unbelievably long time that I couldn’t help but laugh yet again. With the lyrics on the previous HORSE album, The Mechanical Hand, Nathan Winneke’s sometimes absurd lyrics were underlain with a certain innocence and vulnerability, at points displaying genuine emotional content and reflection on the dissociative state of modern society. On this new offering, however, it’s hard to make such a connection. Winneke makes use of some clever word play that is charming in its blatant simplicity, screaming on Werepizza, “Be aware/ or be a were/ werepizza.” If anything though, the real artistic statement of the lyrics lies in the decision to write about such a dispensable consumer commodity as pizza. Perhaps, in line with the band’s stated preference for “making incomprehensible statements beyond critique, like lots of artsy screamo bands,” a concept album about pizza is meant to function as an updated version of 1960s pop and camp art, with ironically passionate odes to pizza meant to mock the abundance of super-serious bands in the hardcore/screamo scene. Or maybe, they just really like pizza.
The most promising aspect of the Pizza EP is that the band demonstrates its growing ability to create well-developed songs out of a collection of seemingly discordant pieces. However, while there are moments of ambient brilliance, a handful of crushing breakdowns, and some genuinely evocative vocal moments, overall the EP functions much like its doughy namesake: as a quick and sometimes delicious diversion, but one that ultimately leaves the listener craving a proper meal. Still, it is ultimately well worth a listen, and I especially recommend it for HORSE fans in search of a snack to hold them over until HORSE’s next full length release, due out in 2007.