Soundbyte - Ponytail: Ice Cream Spiritual

Ponytail
Ice Cream Spiritual
WE ARE FREE
June 17th, 2008

There really aren’t enough words in the dictionary to properly describe the wild cacophony that is Baltimore four-piece Ponytail. With a swirly sound that’s equal parts twee-pop meets clangy noise rock, the band combines it all in a mind-bending prog machine and shoots it from a musical cannon at high speed. Ponytail’s new album wraps up their sound in the title alone: Ice Cream Spiritual - part party, part religious experience. With some songs stretching to the 7-minute mark, Ponytail nonetheless use their time economically, noodling away at their guitars without ever sounding repetitive or boring. Their unique soundscape is amplified by the screeching whoops of lead singer Molly Siegel, whose crooning is more of an extra instrument than the focus of each song, and the album as a whole delivers upon layers and layers of extraordinary creativity. Finally, a band worthy of their hype.

-John Bradley
Listen: Ponytail