CD Review - The Pon's "The Blackest Shine"

Like a lot of you guys, we've been following The Pons since... Well, a while.

There ya go. On the left is Ruby Painter, she's got bass, vocals, and, as need arises, the trumpet. In the middle there is drummer Steve Sanders, and on the right is Thomas Mazzi, the voice and guitar of the band. (Not pictured: Joel Mullins on keys.)

That's them, and their latest release, "The Blackest Shine", will, in all probability, make it's way onto your heavy rotation list:

And Nope, we're not the only folks saying this. Check out this superb review up on The Republic of Austin, then give this great piece up on Ovrld a read, then give this interview up on KUT a ride.

It's rock in the mainstream, Coldplay sense - Guitar, bass, drums, vocals; the keys key, but not dominating; all wrapped in shiny, crystal-clear production values.

And it's absolutely brilliant.

The title track has pole position; a wave of relentless rock-steady beat, in classic, Springsteen-ish style, with Mullins' staccato piano filling in between acoustic rhythm guitar strums and rhythm section. Topped off with Mazzi's lower-keyed, growlingly-expressive vox, it's a cool-handed standard in the making, and has made 101X's Next Big Thing playlist 3 weeks running.

#2 is "Someone Else's Voice", an urgent, perc-punctured number that undulates with Mazzi's vocal emotional range and chorused with some extra-sweet reverb.

Followed by "Impossible Love", probably the most radio-friendly in this collection; a snare & guitar-chorded piece with an easily-felt and more easily-followed chorus - "possibly impossible love" - that seals it.

"Can't Get Through" and "The Future's Past" are rock solid rock numbers burgeoning with emotional baggage; sure to conjure sympathetic pains in any listener with a few years behind them. "Sleep Soundly" is an excellently-modern lullaby; softly sung and interlaced with sections that soar to epic heights. "Death of the Peacock", a bass-lead number punctuated with bluesy guitar riffs, transports you to said mythic venue with it's brick-wallish reverb; then "Gene Hackman Dream" plops you into the land 'o nod with it's dreamy keyboard melodic lines and eerie pad-like noises.

"Black Twin" closes out the set on a hopeful note, sweeping us in with a gentle-handed acoustic guitar before taking us on a thoughtful, psych-inspired jam session suffused with chorused vox and verbed, outer-world strumming.

In total, "The Blackest Shine" is an emotionally-charged powerhouse of pop rock that doesn't stoop to histrionics or pour on syrupy saccharine. Go ahead and pick it up via iTunes or Amazon. Then be sure to catch them at Swan Dive on 1/7/2012.

For completeness' sake, here's their ReverbNation embed. Give it a spin man, it's worthy of a complete listen (the first 9 songs are "The Blackest Shine"):

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Find out more about The Pons on Facebook, BandCamp, ReverbNation, MySpace, and Home Base.

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