Laced With Romance

The Ponys | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 2, 2004)
• Original Release Date: 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: In the Red Records
• ASIN: B0001CVAOW
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #90,550 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

To put it kindly, this Chicago quartet lacks a commanding vocalist. But Jered Gummere, the Tom Verlaine fan who most often takes the mic, would rather cajole than command anyway. "Let's Kill Ourselves," easily the most playful suicide note since Elton John's "I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself," is less an order than an invitation to make a lark out of depression. Similarly, the Ponys' deep, reverberant sound toys with a Jesus and Mary Chain-style darkness only to tweak it, as when a guitar riff from the a Crystals' girl-group classic "And Then He Kissed Me" lumbers out of the depths of "Fall In." In each of the singers' unfulfilled vocal aspirations, and in the way the upward-scrawling guitars refuse to be set straight by the forthright drumming, you can hear a band whose limitations have thankfully forced them to translate punk tradition into their own idiosyncratic language. --Keith Harris

Product Description

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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the better rock albums this year!!, April 14, 2004

By 

Joe (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Laced With Romance (Audio CD)

This album rocks! Its loud, noisy, rock-n-roll. Chicago has been waiting to get put back on the map as a place that rocks and this maybe the band to do that. They remind me of old sonic youth or dinosaur jr. a little bit and at times even the cure, but a lot louder and noisier than the cure. Overall this is a great album one of the better albums to come out of Chicago in years. I recommend getting this one and catching this band live before they hit it big.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic debut, April 3, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Laced With Romance (Audio CD)

I don't think I've ever heard a band quite like The Ponys, one that grabs you by the throat right out of the box, and won't let go until its done with you. Their brand of lo-fi noise pop is serrating and jarring, all the while served up with a classic punk rock attitude. Maybe you should think Sonic Youth meets The Clash, or maybe not, because such a comparison really doesn't do this group justice. Let's just say that they're raw, loud, and noisy. Did I mention they're loud?

Guitars are the name of the game, and The Ponys simply drench their sound with layers and layers of overdriven guitars. Sometimes they drone, at other times they shimmer---sometimes they do both at the same time. It's a lovely cacophony which just overwhelms the listener with sheer guitar noise. Drowning in all of these large riffs are the vocals, which gasp around for a semblance of melody in all this glorious disarray.

It all comes together nicely in songs like Fall In and Chemical Imbalance, two tracks where the mixture of pop and the wall of guitars meet perfectly. Fall Inn begins with an intro that sounds straight out of a surf movie, which then merges into a reckless pop adventure. In contrast, Chemical Imbalance begins with a bouncy guitar line possibly borrowed from London Calling, and then the song just drives along with a herky-jerky motion, hopping along with a cool start-n-stop rhythm which never quite settles into the groove. Rounding out the album is The Only One, a tune which takes the guitar onslaught to a whole new level, pummeling us with riff after huge riff, ending in a huge train wreck of noise at the end. Man, this is one mess you'll never forget.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ponys rock!, March 26, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Laced With Romance (Audio CD)

they play very catchy pop rock songs. with kind of a glam rock singer who also sounds like the singer in the Violent Femmes. the first song is awesome. it's a very standard riff that plays over and over but it sounds great. they have a fun energy. The songs usually get into a groove and stay with it pretty much through out the song but it's great! their music makes you want to move. The band also has some songs with some different kinds of song writing. not as simple songwriting and they're great too! The band pull it off by going with what works and sounds kick-ass. this band reminds me of the Jesus and Mary Chain. and a little like the Ramones. not amazing but above above-average.