Good Good Things

file under re-discoveries

A few years ago, some friends of mine who never fail me (then members of Clone Defects, now Valentinos) told me about this new band from Chicago called The Ponys. So the next time they played the Magic Stick, I checked it out. I'd heard comparisons, but none of them fit quite right.

Their 2004 album Laced With Romance was a car-wreck of Roxy Music meets Television meets Joy Division with just a little bit of Suede. Some reviewers would say Tom Verlaine (Television vocalist) meets Johnny Marr (Smiths songwriter/guitarist). I loved it. This was something totally different than what I had been hearing. Yes, there have been plenty of Television wannabes in the past few years, I know, but this was a little different.

Then in 2005, I picked up their most recent full-length Celebration Castle. Don't ask me why, cuz I have no idea, but I didn't let myself get into it. Quickly, I forgot about it.

A few days ago, my friend Chris asked me if I had whatever record has the Ponys covering Good Good Things from the Descendents. I realized that I don't, and decided that I should. So I searched for it on Amazon, and found the Wounded Again EP from The Ponys.

This is good. Seriously good. There are six tracks on it, and one of them is in fact the cover of Good Good Things. One track is from Laced With Romance (I think), but another one really stands out for me. That would be I Wanna Fuck You. Such a simple thing lyrically, but it's powerful and unexpected considering the rest of their lyrics. Rarely does a singer just come out and say it like that. I like it.

So, after I got ahold of Wounded Again, I went ahead and checked out Celebration Castle for the second time. What was I thinking? This shit is so good...any regular readers may remember that I am a serious Joy Division fan. So much so that I refused to give Interpol a chance at first due to all the JD comparisons. But this album is probably the most Joy Division-sounding record I've heard in a long, long time. You can be as dark and 'goth' as you want, but it won't make you sound like JD. There's something much deeper and I can't really explain it. I guess it's more of a feeling than an actual sound. Celebration Castle has that sound, but not completely. The Roxy Music and Television references are still there. It's just so good...go here to check out The Ponys website.