*** After a year of solid touring the States and abroad, The Ponys deliver a sophomore album that more than lives up to their press and hype. Recorded with Steve Albini, Celebration Castle continues on the same course as The Ponys’ debut - elements of pop and punk styles of the ‘60s. ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s combined in a sound that’s surprisingly non-retro and fresh. Celebration Castle promises to leave not a dry seat in the house.
LP $12.00
05/17/2005
CD $12.00
04/25/2005
MP3 $9.90
04/25/2005
The music of The Ponys is so delicate when you warm up to it, and yet so destructive and mesmerizing, it's hard to see straight once it kicks in. It's tough to imagine the effect on an unsuspecting world it will have. The songs of this Chicago band challenge the DIY aesthetic to the point not everybody can do it themselves anymore. The timing, the vocal inflection, the tremendous build up and crashing - it's an all-new playing field and it's pretty damn exciting. If psychedelic music is supposed to be drippy and lazy, then you can't compare this at all. "Pop" is also way too broad of a term to fit, but once you let these songs plug into your receptacles, it all becomes quite clear. "Noise" is just as unworthy of a description, but begins to tap into the fortified power that's ended so many live shows with a feedback-destroyed eardrum or two. Somehow The Ponys cleverly destroy everything that you used to hate, and then force you to love it with such a unique, swirling sound and jaggedly perverse style that you're left in an orange haze of confusion, pleasure, and overwhelming satisfaction. Seriously. You know, the stuff Mick Jagger wanted to get his hands on so desperately. It really seems that songs like these haven't been written in a long time. Everything's been done before, right? Wrong. Jered's vocals may echo the desperation of Richard Hell, and those chilling keyboards may recall the perfect Velvet Underground,...
LP $12.00
03/02/2004
CD $12.00
03/02/2004
MP3 $9.90
03/02/2004