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(June 11, 2005)
The Ponys: Celebration Castle
Rating - ***
The Ponys page
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On February 28, 2005, readers of WorldOfGigs' stellar online CD review service read
the following words regarding The Ponys' Laced With Romance:
...All in all, it's a good CD to throw on and listen to while you're doing
yardwork, or working out, or just need a musical energy boost. Don't expect it to
be Abbey Road or Exile on Main Street, and you won't
be disappointed. I have the same hope for The Ponys as I do for so many
up-and-coming bands: that they can find a way to build on the really good songs
and discipline themselves to edit out the filler next time....
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Well, we didn't have long to wait, because some time in mid May, and I'm too
lazy to go look up the exact date, "next time" became "this time." And there was enough
promise in Laced With Romance that I decided to give The Ponys another
try. And guess what... I still can't make up my mind whether I like them or not. To put
things in perspective, this is a big improvement over the majority of rock CDs, which
inspire loathing within a matter of minutes or even seconds.
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Once again, we have the good mixed in with the fair mixed in with the plagiarized
mixed in with the outstanding. Take the leadoff song, "Glass Conversation," for
example. It's got a good beat, good vocals, and you have to kind of like it
at first until the realization hits you that the song consists entirely of
two chords. Now, I played guitar for a while and know how hard it is to have
to be constantly be switching the fingers of your left hand back and forth and p
ressing down the strings exactly right, but they ought to work in a bridge with a
third chord just for variety.
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The next track, "Another Wound," sounds like Echo and the Bunnymen, and it has
a guitar riff that reminds me of something from the days before mandatory seatbelts, but
I can't for the life of me place it. Whoever wrote the riff originally is probably
dead by now anyway, so unless it was Frank Zappa, The Ponys are probably
safe. While we're on the subject of familiar-sounding song segments, "Get Black" has
a refrain that sounds uncannily like our old friend Fred from the B-52s
singing "get back!" on that group's 1988 hit "Bush Fire." Now, if all this sounds
very far-fetched to you, just try it: Listen to "Bush Fire," then listen
to "Get Black"; you be the judge.
But all this is chickenfeed compared to the most egregious "borrowing" of
a guitar riff since Vanilla Ice committed aggravated assault
on Queen's/Bowie's "Under Pressure." To wit: "We Shot The World" is
essentially a cover of Joy Division's 1980 hit "Love Will Tear Us
Apart (Again)," with the name changed to protect the innocent. This one
was so blatant that it actually caused me to go check the box to see if
it was in fact a cover. Nope. It was allegedly a new song. Right. And
I'm the second coming of L. Ron Hubbard.
Wait! An abrupt turn to the left, and in the penultimate position (next-to-last
for all the dropouts in the audience) on the CD, we have a song that could
be one of the best I've heard in a long time: "She's Broken." It's the only
track on the CD that features a female lead vocal, and while the CD cover
itself is no help, a bit of research reveals that the female singer in question
is Melissa Elias, bassist for The Ponys. An incredible song, driving, energetic,
with a great chorus, and screaming vocals. Why did The Ponys bury this track after
about 4 or 5 yawners in a row? Well, most likely, they didn't consider
those 4-5 songs to be yawners, but be that as it may, they should have led
off with this one. Elias is a wonderful talent, and the songwriting here,
for a change, is equally superb. Unfortunately, this one song is worth the
price of the CD, and unless I don't know my music industry as well as I think
I do, you'll probably never get to hear "She's Broken" unless you buy the CD. So
buy it, and let me know what you think of their cover of "Love Will Tear Us Apart."
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