Social media might be to blame for the increasing enmeshment of Pop music into the Rock genre. Pop artists are more marketable and interchangeable with social media influencers. What record label would not want an artist with the iconic charisma of Taylor Swift? 

DEAD PONY- BY DEREK BREMNER

Scottish pop-rockers Dead Pony are not just a money grab as their new album Ignore This (LAB/Seeker Records) blends the two styles in a manner with more artistic integrity. This sets them alongside the sonic zip code of acts like Holy Wars or Poppy. 

However, Dead Pony is fun-loving and marginally less angsty, with a great deal of nineties influence haunting their sound. 

The band dances through the doors Nu-Metal helped open. The band taps into the most entertaining aspects of nineties Alternative radio thanks to frontwoman Anna Shields. Her voice puts them in close company with acts like Veruca Salt or Garbage. Her melodies pack more sugar than spice. 

The guitars are mixed with more mid-range than Metal, and the overall mix holds more common ground with Pop than packing a punch. The guitars get a slight boost going into “About Love” before ebbing down to give the vocals more room for introspection.

One of this band’s strengths is they are invested in songwriting rather than just trying to dial in a sound. Sure, they might wink in the direction of nineties music, but they are not a tribute band. Their priority is the song in front of them and what they are trying to say within it. Their guitarist takes over the mic for interludes and the occasional intro. His voice is less interesting than Anna’s. “Cobra” is driven with an upbeat bounce; it sounds like most of the crunch it lacks is a production choice, as I can hear where this might rock out more live. The post-production choices on the vocals are where this producer’s true talents lie as it is an area where this album shines. 

This album is not going down as the year’s hardest rocking album, but if you want a trip back in time to when music was carefree and well-written with its lingering stench of teen spirit, then this album will provide a suitable soundtrack to your summer. 

This album does require at least an appreciation of pop music. While we can expect the band’s best work to come, this is a fine starting point for a band that shows a great deal of promise as they follow their own unique path.

Buy the album here:
https://mfl-stores.myshopify.com/collections/dead-pony

8 / 10
WIL CIFER