We Are Space Horses is an indie-heavy psych trio from the Boston area that recently released their debut album, Apologia, on December 29th. They say their music is for fans of Pink Floyd, Tool, The Black Angels, All Them Witches, King Buffalo, and Elder. That’s a great collection of bands, and after listening to We Are Space Horses’ debut album, I can say they live up to their influences.
The group released three singles from Apologia before the album release, and their tagline is “a moody spacey groove from Somerville, Massachusetts.” Before discussing their music, let’s get a bit of history about the band.
We Are Space Horses comprises singer/guitarist Kevin Vanderhoof, bassist Gabbi Vanderhoof, and drummer Eric Hochwald. They initially formed in 2017 in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, where Kevin was already involved in the local scene and playing bass for a stoner/doom band called King Dead. He wanted to start his own project that displayed his love for Sixties and Seventies psychedelic and progressive rock, and he met Gabbi, a talented bass player with a passion for indie and alternative rock. The two formed a band called Equestranauts with a local drummer and melded their influences to write and record Apologia.
Fans often asked them, “What’s an Equestranaut?” and the confusion led them to change their band name to answer that question: We Are Space Horses. After finishing recording the new album in Stroudsburg, Gabbi and Kevin moved to Boston, where they met Erich Hochwald of Moon Machine in late 2018. Eric was enamored with the group’s unique style and joined as the drummer.
However, the completion of Apologia was delayed by everything imaginable: recording problems, a wedding, a pandemic, a baby born, and out-of-state moves. The group stuck with it. Apologia was finally finished in 2023, combining the original recording at Rock Hard Studios in Pennsylvania with a self-produced drum recording at Sum Studios in Malden, Massachusetts. Eric mixed the album, and it was finally released on December 29, 2023.
What do We Are Space Horses sound like? The band describes the new album’s style as if “Pink Floyd was influenced by Tool and not the other way around.” They also call the music “indie doom.” Apologia is more genre-bending, dynamic, and brooding than the average psych-rock album, partially due to Kevin’s love of experimental rockers Swans and Sigur Ros.
The lyrics touch on personal topics, as “Apologia” means a “formal defense of one’s opinions or actions,” such as life after addiction, loss, religion, and childhood trauma. If most psych rock can be described as “sunny,” Apologia would be better as psych music for the cold winter months.
Apologia comes in a tight package of seven songs with a run time of just under 38 minutes. While the music has an epic feel, the relatively shorter run time is refreshing, given that many bands like We Are Space Horses go way over that.
The album starts with “To Let Go…Absolutely,” one of the record’s longest tracks. The production quality is excellent, and the long intro leads into great falsetto vocals from Kevin. The track has an alternative meets progressive rock feel, with tremendous guitar playing, but it also has emo touches, especially in the vocals. I was never much of an emo fan, but the strong melodies reminded me of that genre.
“To Let Go…Absolutely” bleeds seamlessly into “Absolutely Haunted,” a short interlude with weird, echoed sounds that may remind you of Pink Floyd. The pace builds until the end and launches into “Haunt.” The song’s atmospheric feel and guitar work have heavy King Buffalo vibes, and Eric’s rollicking drum rhythms are another cool part. Kevin’s vocals are meaner and more baritone, and this song rocks way harder than the first two.
“God is a Ghost” comes next; what a great track title. The vocals return to the smooth, almost emo feel, showing Kevin’s range. The sweet guitar riff hits the spot, and the song gets more intense over time. The bass is another super-strong point of the track, and Kevin tears it up in a guitar solo. This track is where the Tool influence is most on display.
“Ketoacidosis” brings more Tool-like sounds, especially in the bass. At this point, you fully realize this is an album that, more than most, is meant to be listened to front-to-back. The track ordering is perfect, and while it may not be a concept album, each song naturally leads into the next. Not every album achieves this in an era of playlist shuffling, but Apologia certainly does.
The song ends with cool, Pink Floyd-esque ambient sounds like a swirling synthetic wind, leading us into “Stale Skies.” The pulsing bass line sounds like “Run Like Hell” off Floyd’s The Wall. The album closes with the epic, nine-minute-plus “Justification to Build a Monument,” a slow-burn psychedelic meets progressive track capable of melting minds.
We Are Space Horses worked hard to finish Apologia, overcoming several obstacles to bring the album to us. I’m glad they stuck with it. I highly recommend this debut record for fans of Pink Floyd, Tool, King Buffalo, and Elder, and I can’t wait to see what this group does next. For now, they’ve left us with an excellent debut album that’s perfect for the winter season and demands repeated listens.
Check out Apologia by We Are Space Horses on Bandcamp here.
Support We Are Space Horses by finding them on Bandcamp or social media (Instagram, Facebook, YouTube).
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