Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual! (Inertia 2009)

Ponytail’s new album ‘Ice Cream Spiritual!’ is pure pandemonium from start to finish. While two guitars duel over Bonham-esque rolling drums, singer Molly caterwauls her way through a series of shrieks, coos, howls and whinnies, screeches and falsetto yelps. There’s no bassist, which is a problem, as the music tends towards the high-end shriek, leaving the bass frequencies thin and unexplored. Eruptions into tic-ish 80s duelling air guitar solos and extended jams while Molly does nothing recognisable on the microphone makes this an impenetrable listen, one of those albums you can never quite find the right mood to be in the mood to listen to. It sounds like an extended drunken jam in a garage, paying no attention to song structure and any perceived audience. A series of jams that amble along towards no conclusion, journeyless and almost redundant. At Ponytail’s core, though, are some talented musicians, who, with restraint could pearl out some beauties. Molly could keep her wails and yelps to choruses and breakdowns and allow bits you can sink yourself into to happen. A trebly mess of chaos with no real connection, with the occasionally invigorating guitar lines, the singer does this no favours by being so unnecessarily over the top in her attempt to be punky, cool and different. There’s something to be said for 3 minute pop hits sometimes.

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