My Little Pony might say they have a bit of “Norwegian gloom” but their sound is nothing but pure Norwegian charm. The four year old group from Oslo is just finishing up their first North American visit. After making their first SXSW appearance last week on March 17, they traveled to Toronto, making a quick stop in Buffalo along the way at The Vault (702 Main Street) on Sunday March 20, and will next be playing at The Cake Shop in New York City on Tuesday, March 22.

The five member group has an upbeat sound that is catchy and pop-friendly without sacrificing an intellectual sensibility to their lyrics and demeanor. Perfectly at ease with his deliberate sentimentality, lead singer and chief songwriter Ola Innset delivers monologue-esque lyrics without pretension. Harmonizing vocals from keyboardist Nina Bo and guitarist Simen Herning add just the right touch carefree, head-bopping texture.

Often vocals are shared between Innset and Bo, rendering the tunes into heartfelt conversations. On “I Do Remember” a lovely tune that brings Bossanova to the mind, Bo sings a plaintive solo that shows the depth and range of a group that could easily coast by on the strength of their lead singer.

Rounding out the group, bassist Marie Sneve Martinussen and drummer Jorgen Nordby are hardly wallflowers. My Little Pony is a young group, but their 200+ live performance experience in ten different European countries is evident in the confident musicianship of their performance as a group, rather than mere supporting players to a talented songwriter.

Their sophomore album Making Marks has a twee-pop flair with well-placed strings and horns that work well on the recorded tracks, but their most recent live performance in Buffalo played as a more Americana, folk-rock styling that was equally listenable. Amenable to their circumstances as a foreign indie act, the group played on borrowed instruments, due to the bureaucratic difficulties of bringing their own. “Every performance is slightly different,” stated Innset, referring to the borrowed equipment. “Last night I was a rockabilly guy, tonight I am more, uh…Led Zeppelin.”

While more experienced with European venues, My Little Pony seems to have enjoyed their North American mini-tour. “We watched Arcade Fire accepting their Grammy,” Innset said to a small but rapt 20 person audience here on Sunday. “He mentioned that just recently the group had performed to an ‘intimate crowd’ of 500-600 people…we are no strangers to intimacy ourselves.”

After traveling in Texas, the group noted that Buffalo felt much more like home. They arrived just in time to experience the Buffalo St. Patrick’s weekend parade. “What an interesting tradition you have here…” said Herning. “It was like walking through the apocalypse.”

In Texas, the group played at a comedy club, which inspired the band to craft a one-liner that did not deliver as expected. “We have always done songs in English, but we told the audience there that we translated all the songs from Norwegian just for that performance,” stated Innset. “No one laughed. They just seemed really impressed.” Added Herning, “The next part of the joke was that we were about to go on our European tour…so…(both feigned extreme exhaustion).”

My Little Pony’s playfulness and humor peeks through their songs of positive melancholy. On “Fragments of an Island” the lyrics proclaim “I wished I was Andrew Bird just younger | I wished that this crush would last a little bit longer” and on the opening track “A Miracle” the catchiest lyric is almost certainly “In the chorus I would use the word *radio* so that it could be sung on the *radio*.” A line delivered with an almost comical melodramatic emphasis.

The March 20th show also featured a soulful acoustic solo performance by Vic Lazar, a very promising set from The Prison Gate Girls that had audience members asking for them to record, and a very enjoyable, polished set from Buffalo up and comers, The Screaming Jeans.

The Vault is an art gallery and music space in the arts and theatre district of downtown Buffalo that regularly features the best musical acts you may not have heard of, as well as some you may have been itching to see. On Tuesday April 5, The Vault will feature another group of artists, including none other than Nat Baldwin, the bassist for Dirty Projectors, a buzz-worthy Brooklyn-based, avant-pop group.