It’s been seven years since we last heard new music from Pony Face, and the Melbourne indie-psych four-piece make up for lost time with the fabulously hypnotic “Expire”.
We’re thrilled today to be premiering the video for “Expire”, the first taste of a forthcoming new album from Pony Face and a welcome reintroduction to a band who have never been particularly interested in taking the obvious route.
The band describe “Expire” as a “power-punk, stooge dirge with shades of Dr Jnr.”, while citing The Cramps and The Stooges among its inspirations. That primitive streak is there from the outset, with a garage-rock beat locking into an insistent groove that barely lets up across the track. There’s something almost hypnotic about that driving rhythm, Simon Bailey and Katie Scott riding above a churning bed of punk riffage, synths and, importantly, cowbell. Some lovely guitar lines weave their way through the noise, providing flashes of colour without ever disrupting the track’s momentum.
“Expire” feels like music made by people who have travelled some interesting roads, preferably the ones well away from the beaten track, and have collected a few stories along the way. That certainly comes through in the lyrics. It takes aim at extinction, bureaucracy and relationships with a gloriously warped sense of humour. There’s drowning in the fine print, the repeated declaration that “there’s nothing finer”, and the not entirely serious fantasy of pushing an ex off a cheap ocean liner and discovering that nobody is going to make too much effort to find them.
Pony Face might have been away for a while, but there’s little suggestion that the intervening years have encouraged them to play things safe. “Expire” also serves as the opening chapter of a new era for the band, with a new album on the way and a run of Victorian shows announced for October and November. Get along if you can and support live music. The ticket links are below.
Pony Face Tour Dates
October 30 | Quadrophonic Club, Brunswick – with Curlers and DJ Fee B-Squared – Tickets HERE
October 31 | Young Street Tavern, Frankston – with Snake Thighs – tickets HERE
November 13 | Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine – with The Wraylettes – tickets HERE
November 14 Archies Creek Hotel, Gippsland – with The Wraylettes – tickets HERE
Keep up to date with Pony Face via Instagram, Bandcamp and Spotify
Header image credit: Laura May Grogan
