Thirty seconds into the openingtrack, "Orange Blossom," of The Rocking Horse Winner's new album and you're hooked. The surge of singer Jolie Lindholm's voice and the terrific melody set pretty high expectations for the CD, and the band is up to the challenge. "Horizon," the band's new disc, was released by Equal Vision Records on April 30th of this year. CLOSER recently spoke with The Rocking Horse Winner's guitarist Henry Olmino after a rewarding show in Toledo, Ohio. "Last night was excellent," an enthusiastic Olmino recalls. "Overall the crowds have been good, but last night we got a great vibe from the

The Toledo show was one of 40 on RHW's current six-week tour, which has taken them up the East Coast before veering into the Midwest for a stretch. During this stretch the band will only have a couple of nights off, but Olmino indicates that they wouldn't have it any other way. "We're having a real good time so far," he says.

A quick browse of the Equal Vision website made me curious about the label's relationship with The Rocking Horse Winner. Most of the bands on the label are hard-edged bands, while The Rocking Horse Winner specializes in catchy, riffy pop rock. Olmino agrees that it looks like an odd relationship. An Equal Vision executive saw
the band, named after a story by D.H. Lawrence, play at the MacRock festival in the Washington, D.C. area and was enthusiastic about working with RHW. One sign of this enthusiasm is the photo of The Rocking Horse Winner on the new release page of the label's website.

"Last night we got a great vibe from the crowd even though we were playing in a basement and a sewer pipe broke. The place smelled awful, but nobody seemed to mind."

Olmino recalled a recent show that The Rocking Horse Winner played at the CMJ Music Marathon with some of their label mates. "We played an Equal Vision showcase at CMJ (the prestigious new music festival sponsored by The College Music Journal) right after we signed. We were definitely lighter sounding than the other bands, but we got a great reaction." Olmino was definitely aware of the historical importance of playing the show at New York's premiere punk club, CBGB's. "It was cool knowing that you're on the stage where bands like Talking Heads and Blondie got their start," says an enthusiastic Olmino.

When asked to name his primary influences the guitar player in Olmino really comes forward. "I grew up listening to heavy metal, and people like Yngwie Malmsteen and Slayer were ones that I really looked up to. But if I had to name a couple of bands that are really responsible for me being a musician today, I'd have to say that Fugazi, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and The Pixies are the bands that really inspired me."

Knowing these influences, and the fact that Olmino is one of the main writers in the band, the sound of The Rocking Horse Winner is a bit of a surprise. The band's music is tight, melodic and gently rocking. The rhythm section of Jeronimo Gomez (bass) and Matt Crum (drums) keeps the songs moving along. Olmino's guitar is melodic and clean and Lindholm's voice clear and strong. Critics make comparisons to other groups with female lead singers, but I think that focus is too simple. Olmino recognizes this tendency. "Jolie's voice is pretty distinctive, so people really notice that right away." He's right on this count. Lindholm's voice does grab your ear. She handles herself well on the more upbeat numbers like "Orange Blossom" and "Tomorrow," while she's also able to adapt to slower, gentler tunes like "Curable."

"Horizon" is due in stores on April 30 and the band returns to south Florida shortly after. They'll be appearing in late May at the Pompano Indoor Skate Park.

See Rocking Horse Winner at the Pompano Indoor Skate Park on May 25th. The park is located at 2171 Blount Road, Pompano Beach. Time and ticket information are not yet available. Check RHW's website at www.therockinghorsewinner.com for more information.