The Ponys

Celebration Castle

(In The Red)

Record Review by Adam McKibbin

Instead of resting on the laurels of their debut, Laced With Romance, The Ponys rounded up Steve Albini and headed right back into the studio.  Even though it comes only a year later, Celebration Castle is a more refined offering from the Chicago rockers, one that should be ripe for substantial crossover success (while sounding, simultaneously, to be largely unconcerned with such frivolity).  It’s sweaty, it’s noisy, it’s pouty, but it’s not dirty.   

The guitar squalor of Jared Gummere and now-departed Ian Adams gives The Ponys much of their potency (interesting, then, to see what the future will bring).  This interplay is captured well throughout, and most enjoyably on “Shadow Box” and opener “Glass Conversation.”  Gummere’s agitated yelp often sounds vaguely British in inflection, and even though it sounds familiar, it also doesn’t sound cribbed from anyone in particular.  Adams chips in the breezy, handclapping and utterly charming “I’m With You.”  Bassist Melissa Elias convincingly takes the vocal reins for the riot-grrly “She’s Broken,” and even though the song is a bit too dated to stand alone, it’s a plucky piece when taken in context of the whole album.  The only real misstep is “We Shot The World” – it’s just a mistake to have a song so heavily recall “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” because chances are that your song, no matter how good, isn’t that good.

“Get Black” weaves the more general influences of garage and post-punk together, busting out some tambourine and blues harmonica for good measure.  Even those little flourishes can go a long way in embedding Celebration Castle’s many hooks, but the key for The Ponys remains the same:  keep the percussion primal, keep Gummere sounding a little unhinged, and turn up those guitar amps!