Ponytail

"Celebrate the Body Electric”

BY Cam LindsayPublished Mar 3, 2008

It’s not often you hear of a band that was forced to start, let alone as a school assignment. But such is the case for Baltimore’s Ponytail, who were thrown together by an art school professor based on his judgment of their character. One in-class performance led to a full-on commitment to music making, however, not without completing their degrees.

Their 2006 debut, Kamehameha came in a unique package that makes it pretty easy to spot in my collection — a sleek, irregular design corresponding, of course, with the manic tuneage found inside. Comparable to the shrill guitar spasms of earlier Deerhoof, Ponytail thrash and flail like every young band should, with overexcited haste, and somehow, complete control.

New album, Ice Cream Spiritual, is set for a June 17 release, and the four-piece have given a very premature sneak preview. The marathon "Celebrate the Body Electric” demonstrates the band’s whiplash’n’tease approach, breaking in and out of strident jams with serene breakdowns and progressive tangents. Molly Siegel’s vocals aren’t as dominant as most selections from Kamehameha; she’s backed with some like-minded shrieks from her band-mates, but in a Melt-Banana moment of hysteria, she gets her fill, evoking her infancy and then initiating a series of yelps to go "Higher!”

If it’s at all possible to celebrate the body electric, Ponytail certainly reach it with shocking results.

Ponytail "Celebrate the Body Electric”

Ice Cream Spiritual teaser #1


Ice Cream Spiritual teaser #2

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