THE PONY COLLABORATION wield glockenspeils, melodicas and a veritable assortment of percussion along with a viola and the essential bass, drums and guitars as this 8-strong outfit continues to expand along with a creative vein and a fair old knack for writing brilliant songs. There’s a string quartet too, recorded in a school hall, as the house where the rest of this homemade album took shape wasn’t big enough to accommodate them.
‘Coming Clean’ is a string-enhanced prelude, before the pale beauty of ‘Giving Up The Ghost’ kicks in with a soothing melodica-driven sound, bass heavy, with skitter scattering percussion half-stepping behind the beat. The hazy-laziness of the duetting male/female vocal harmonies are tinged with sadness as tears well up to this melancholy creation. James Scallan and Claire Williams sing it like it is, and the unfolding helpings of irony tinged regret simply pour forth as this album unfolds.
The knock-bang drums introduce the hollow what ifs and tightrope walking sanity on the yellow brick road to love. Easy clapping cymbal-tapping and steeped in howling FX, the downtrodden tempo can’t quite submerge the uplifting sense of hope as the track splutters to a synth-driven close.
Looping acoustica chimes in the pop-pulse of tracks like ‘Dust’ and ‘The Fast Lane’, the latter bouncing in hot pursuit of fast living, stopping only occasionally as it grinds to a stomping crescendo.
String-fuelled anxieties are thrown aside as the paranoia is submerged with a melodic guitar injection.
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Likewise ‘The Lay Of The Land’ hazes forth in a non-communicative storm of self-delusion, all sepia-toned and filled with positive thought and hope. The glockenspeil and melodica add subtle melodies whilst at the low end the bass vibrates to the snare of the drums. Everything is somehow threaded in strings and the stories told unfold in slow motion, as images linger, even in the faster tracks.
I’m still listening for the sounds of DIY coming from the house next door, as the atonal thud of ‘Rules Of Thumb’ unfolds heavily, the tit for tat harmonies blurring the bitter and lonely line between love and hate. The string quartet takes the thought processes and makes them spiral wordlessly out of control as the vocals loop ever onwards.
A brilliant and beautiful debut long-player, and with its release comes the opportunity to see this Cambridge collective on a short April tour of the UK. Tim, if you’re reading this, and you need a reviewer for the April 13th Manchester date, I’m yer man!
Finishing with the futility of a regretfully destroyed love, this hugely impressive and instantly endearing collection draws to a fear-drenched and clinging close. As a homegrown response to all things ‘Americana’, this oozes quality and delicate charm.
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