BRONCHO – Just Enough Hip To Be Woman

They say the greatest pleasures in life are extremely short but are always exceedingly sweet. Clocking in at just over thirty adrenaline-fuelled minutes is Just Enough Hip To Be Woman; the brand-new, fuzzy LP from honorary Oklahoma three-piece Broncho – styled BRONCHO.

Slackly channelling an early Strokes and Albert Hammond Jnr vibe; the American indie rock / garage trio’s sophomore album opens with the snappy blink-and-you’ll-miss-it ‘What‘. With the opening track just shy of two and a half minutes, BRONCHO instantly throw the listener into the thick of their originality. With ‘What‘ being followed by ‘Class Historian‘ and ‘Deena‘, the shortest track on ‘Just Enough Hip‘; the initial introduction to BRONCHO’s classier, more defined sound couldn’t possibly be stronger.

Sixth track ‘I’m Gonna Find Where He’s At‘ depicts a heavy 80’s shoegaze influence, contrasting with the dark and intense vibe expelling itself from ‘Taj Mahal’. This extreme distinction in sounds, a theme coursing through the backbone of ‘Just Enough Hip‘, showcases the diversity of BRONCHO and their refusal to be defined and confined within one genre.

This boundary-pushing sound and inventive means of banishing the typical music labels given to the band, is also present on ‘Stop Tricking’; one of the more temperamental tracks making its way onto BRONCHO’s second album’s track listing. “Stop tricking me/stop tricking me” the refrain, sung by BRONCHO’s vocalist/guitarist, Ryan Lindsay, pleads, before halting abruptly, as if Lindsay has finally lost his patience with the songs muse.

Steering straight into a cloud of moodiness is ‘Just Enough Hip’s‘ closing track, the strangely titled ‘China‘. Never judge a book by its cover, ‘China’ may begin in a morose fashion, transmitting little emotion and even less passion but come ‘China’s instrumental an atmosphere of controlled, hectic madness takes hold and sends ‘Just Enough Hip‘ into overdrive.

Ending the album on a definitive high, BRONCHO’s second album, ‘Just Enough Hip To Be Woman‘, is proved to be a genre-dodging, sophisticated record brimming with excitement and surprise. A dramatic congratulations is in order for the three-piece from Oklahoma due to their outstanding effort.