Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 03/20/2007
On their third album (and first for
Matador), Chicago
noise-
pop titans
the Ponys offer up a few small but noticeable changes from the approach of their first two albums,
Laced with Romance and
Celebration Castle.
Ian Adams left the band shortly after
Celebration Castle was completed, and
Turn the Lights Out marks the recorded debut of new guitarist
Brian Case, who brings a more controlled and less frantic style to these new songs. Also, while the first two albums were respectively produced by the relatively hands-off
Jim Diamond and
Steve Albini,
Turn the Lights Out was produced by the band with the assistance of
John Agnello, and he seems to have imposed a greater degree of discipline on
the Ponys -- this is a decidedly cleaner and more disciplined disc than their earlier efforts, though
Agnello still honors the deep and echoey sound that's been the band's trademark in the studio. Despite it all, this still sounds like
the Ponys, and the changes have done them much more good than harm. Having spent plenty of time on the road with the band before recording
Turn the Lights Out,
Case has seamlessly integrated with his bandmates, especially
Jered Gummere, with whom he's become half of an impressive guitar team. Bassist
Melissa Elias and drummer
Nathan Jerde back them up with a faultless sense of purposefully woozy swing, and the results are as powerful as anything these folks have put to tape, capturing a juicy, organic give-and-take between the players without squeezing the life out of the music.
Agnello's production and engineering offers a wealth of aural detail while creating a strong, unified aural presence. And quite simply,
the Ponys sound like champs on this set -- they play with both precision and dark fire, the songs are top-notch, and the epochal closer,
"Pickpocket Song," is a masterpiece.
Turn the Lights Out is the most mature and technically accomplished album
the Ponys have made to date, but it doesn't lack the excitement and edge of the fine music that preceded it, and they've quietly grown into one of the best young bands currently at work.
~Mark Deming, All Music Guide
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