Ass Ponys

Lohio is the more than satisfying follow-up to the solar blast brilliance of last year's Some Stupid With A Flare Gun, and AP's sixth album so far. Once again, they've teamed up with Nashville producer Brad Jones to create a near perfect collection of offbeat, understated gems. Chuck Cleaver can say more in four lines than most songwriters can in 20, and the music fills in the blanks and rides out all the emotional peaks and valleys. Songs like "Kung Fu Reference," "Donald Sutherland" and "Baby In a Jar" scream for a wider audience. There's nothing here that quite matches the "jump up and down on the furniture" excitement of SSWAFG's "Astronaut" or "X-tra Nipple," but there's plenty of musical food for thought. Eclectic and melodic vignettes served up with dashes of fiddle and mandolin, synth flourishes, kitchen implements and some steaming guitar interplay. Having survived for over ten years, and the purgatory of major label banishment, Ass Ponys just keep going and going. A shiny beacon of consistency and constancy in the fickle waters of indie-rock.