Hey Cowboy! - Get In My Fanny Pack and Let's Go
Innovative synth-pop outfit Hey Cowboy! dropped their second album a few weeks ago, entitled Get in My Fanny Pack and Let's Go.
Hey Cowboy! | Photo: Katie Reese
What’s unique about Hey Cowboy! is the absence of guitar, meaning their sound revolves around synths, bass, and drums, giving the music a creamy-dreamy, almost psychedelic/new wave feel at times, along with pensive punk touches. The trio is made up of Micah Vargas (bass), Sydney Harding-Sloan (synth), and Gaby Rodriguez (drums).
Encompassing a baker’s dozen tracks, the album begins with the trio’s dream-pop-version of Lee Hazelwood’s “Midnight Sun,” traveling on gleaming synths and a clip-clopping beat, topped by ethereal vocals.
Entry points include “Cherry Jerry Citrus,” opening on a tasty austere drum shuffle, followed by a Jack White-like bassline, thudding with resounding pops. The swirling synth arrives, filling the melody with bright streaming colors, as waiflike harmonies inject the lyrics with buttery polish. “Feelin’ For” features dark emerging synth coloration, akin to rounded groanings, a crisp snare, and cashmere vocal timbres, pale yet penetrating. I love the throbbing, undulating flow of this tune, airy and rife with atmospheric ambiance.
Delicious harmonies suffuse the lyrics with pastel textures.
“Hello, Mr. Nasty” rides a fat, cavernous bassline, which, combined with the oozing coloration of the synths gives the tune a jazz-flavored ‘60s feel. “Queen Cactus” blends shimmering synths, industrial-lite tones, and hallucinogenic effusions into a wistful melody capped by psychedelic-flavored vocals.
“Houses” commences with muted, fat pulses from the bass riding a tight, crunching snare, with hauntingly graceful vocals gliding over the ascetic music. A drifting synth enters, imbuing the tune with strident, wafting filaments. Delicious harmonies suffuse the lyrics with pastel textures.
“Zitty” opens on subterranean pops from the bass supported by jazz-laced rhythmic accents, as a glistening synth purrs overhead, and shifts to percolating textures of color. Dreamy vocals hover and sway above.
With Get in My Fanny Pack and Let's Go, Hey Cowboy! delivers fragile otherworldly mists, psych-dazes, and yummy, enchanting vocals.
