Pony – TV Baby

Occasionally an album will drop into the pile that will make you stop and think about the nature of music and what it is for. We all have those records that transcend the basic need for musical diversion and entertainment. These records or even individual songs are not even necessarily great artistic masterpieces or offer profound insights on the human condition. They are just perfectly of their moment and simultaneously timeless. I’d venture to suggest that TV Baby by Toronto four-piece PONY might be one of those albums for these unusual times.

PONY deliver a brand of effervescent power pop/bubblegum punk that is familiar enough to be comfortable but also darts and weaves lyrically through modern life in such a way to repay repeated and careful attention. Don’t be fooled into thinking that these fizzy portions are throwaway oobie-doobie-do ditties of no consequence. They are sharp and often introspective lyrical reflections expressed as riff-heavy and driving guitar pop with an uplifting vibe sometimes at odds with the subject matter.

TV Baby is a bold debut, brimful of ace tunes with enough grit and energy to lift it up and make it an intriguing piece of work. The album is built on the sonic foundations of the genre: fuzzed-out guitar pop with a sweet vocal garnished with a sprinkling of keyboard to create a comfortably familiar confection that is not sickly. The chord progressions are sometimes obvious; the lyrical introspection is not. This is this album’s glorious paradox. It’s also one of those albums from which you could pick a track to match any mood.

Every track is a winner. Highlight of the album is the closing track Swore, which flips its grinding, fuzzed out intro into a driving Shangri Las meets the Ramones song about the aftermath of a dead relationship. The regret and pain in the lyric is given extra poignancy by the addition of some beautifully cheesy 80s keyboard lines. The combined effect, as throughout the album, is of darker things painted in bright colours. 

Sunshine with a hint of rain, in a colourful can.

TV Baby by PONY is out via Take This To Heart Records and Bandcamp on 9th April