DARK CLOUDS GATHER ABOVE PONOKA
When you think of Ponoka, you may cherish warm memories of endless blue skies, a rolling countryside, a general laid-back atmosphere.
For the record, we're not referring to the little town in Alberta, Canada, but to the Dutch band with the same name. Ponoka's debut album Hindsight, released by VOLKOREN in 2007, was a cheerfully nostalgic experience, bringing forth summery radio songs like September and Help is on the Way.
Unfortunately, carefree summers don't last forever. That's what Ponoka-singer Rick de Gier discovered when he was taken back to his crowded native country The Netherlands after an idyllic childhood in Canada, and now it's also what fans of the band will discover: Ponoka's new record Built to Fly casts some surprisingly long shadows. And not just in the melancholy artwork by Simon van Alphen. The title track sort of sums up the mood:
Even when I soar / Unrestrained up high / I feel it in my bones / I wasn't built to fly.
Sure, Ponoka's six members have had some good fortune: excellent reviews, ample attention on national radio, gigs in leading venues. Good reason to be up in the clouds for awhile. But at the end of the day they can't shake the feeling they're still just a bunch of plodding part-time musicians from an insignificant country, where the sun hardly ever shines and attempts to rise above the crowd aren't appreciated.
Sound depressing? Don't worry – Built to Fly may be a tad darker, it's also more daring, varied, and compelling than its predecessor. While Hindsight was essentially a solo effort, Built to Fly is a genuine band album. Melodic, seemingly nonchalant indie songs like Eels, Pavement or Bright Eyes might cook up are still at the core, but the arrangements are something entirely different. Thick new-wave synths, gritty seventies drums, euphoric choruses, shoe-gazer guitar walls – Ponoka pulls out all the stops, without ever losing its own unique sound.
And for a collection of songs about doubt and disappointment, a suspicious amount of fun seeps through the music. Admittedly, there wasn't a cloud in sight when the band entered guitarist Theo Nap's Wooden Cup Studio in the summer of 2008 to blaze new trails under supervision of inventive producer Minco Eggersman.
The sky above Ponoka may not be ideal for flying, but that won't stop this band from aiming high. In spite of everything, the title track ends on an optimistic note: I just can't stop myself from pretending! / I can't turn down the anticipation inside!
TO ORDER CD VISIT WWW.PONOKAMUSIC.COM.
The press about Ponokas debut 'Hindsight':
An album that keeps growing, with subtle personal reflections from a man with character and a keen eye for detail. Great pop record! OOR (leading music magazine)
The forty minutes of this debut contain no weak spots whatsoever. Musicfrom.NL
Ponoka is among the best that came in from the Netherlands the past months. The record won't be leaving our cd-player anytime soon. De Morgen (leading Belgian newspaper)
