HORNS OF HAPPINESS With band's music, dance or space out

The upcoming tour features a minimalist approach.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Why is it everybody in the indie rock world has decided it's time to dance?
From The Arcade Fire to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, up-tempo rhythms are getting more than feet tapping responses from audiences coast to coast.
The same can be said for new act Horns of Happiness, which is the vision of The Impossible Shapes singer-songwriter Aaron Deer.
"It's not really something we're striving for, it's something that just kind of happened," said Deer, calling from New Haven, Conn. "We never get really stuck doing the same thing for too long. I like to keep people on their toes."
Considering Deer's diversity, people have remained on their toes for years, especially when it comes to Horns of Happiness, which was born out of the same The Impossible Shapes recording session that produced the band's 2003 disc "We Like It Wild." Originally Deer recorded some experimental and quirky songs for the fun of it, with the collection eventually landing in the office of The Impossible Shapes label, Secretly Canadian.
"The Secretly Canadian people said 'we really like this record. We know it's not a band. We don't care. We're just going to put it out and see what happens'."
Soon thereafter, 2004's "A Sea as a Shore" was in stores with Deer adding drummer Shelley Harrison into the project for touring purposes. After releasing a new EP "Would I Find Your Psychic Guideline" earlier this year, Deer added bass player Elaina Morgan to the mix in hopes of expanding the live show. The trio is hitting the road this spring providing a minimalist approach to the band's psychedelic trip.
"It's music you can move around a little bit or just sit and space out," Deer said. "I think we have a lot of different things to offer -- weird, pounding drum songs with like California pop melodies on top of it. We're certainly not a band that you have to interact with or be super-pumped to enjoy the show."
Such a blas & eacute; comment is decidedly far from a ringing endorsement regarding the outfit's upcoming Youngstown debut Saturday at Cedars Lounge but Deer is confident music fans willing to take a chance on the Horns of Happiness will leave entertained, if not completely fulfilled. "We're pretty entertaining," Deer said. "We cram a lot into about a 45-minute show with songs kind of bleeding together. It's just an interesting musical experience."