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Artist
: Ass Ponys
Title :
Lohio
Label :
Checkered Past
Reviewed By :
Ross Greenawalt
Site : www.assponys.org |
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 Their
mid-90s major-label experience left scars you can still see,
but the Ass Ponys' best work has come after that fiasco. Following
quickly on the heels of 2000's brilliant Some Stupid With a
Flare Gun, Lohio finds these boys from Cincinnati at the top
of their game.
This time around, there's a little less pop, a little more
Americana, and at least as much angst. Chuck Cleaver's often
melancholy tales are serviced well by Brad Jones' polished
- but not frilly - production, and Cleaver's distinctive voice
(think Loudon Wainwright III raised on R.E.M. records) pulls
the heartstrings in all the right places. Cleaver the songwriter
is at his best here: When the moment finally comes / I could
be the trigger / you could be the gun / that blows out the
back of my skull ("Donald Sutherland").
With downers like "(Baby) I Love You (Baby)" (from
a dying man to the nurse who's helping him in his final days)
and "Kung Fu Reference" (a single guy left alone
with his old movies & empty house trying desperately not
to think about the girl who left him there) balanced by the
comparatively jaunty "Butterfly" and "Black
Dot," combined with the best performances the Ponys have
committed to tape in the last 12 years, Lohio is the sound
of a band just hitting its stride.
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CD
REVIEW - Ass Ponys / Lohio