The Power of Ponderosa

Ponderosa (Atlanta) triumphantly returned to Greenville this weekend, owning the Main Stage at the Fall for Greenville street festival. Their first time back to G-Vegas since their stunning sophomore album, "Pool Party" (New West Records), was released earlier this summer, the band used the opportunity to pound out many of the new tunes, sweeping across the crowd with all of the thick, rolling power that I have come to expect from these guys. 

The self-described "neo-psychedelic indie rock band" is unapologetic and unconventional in its style (i.e., a breath of fresh air), kicking aside the tired verse-chorus-verse format for a blended scope of ethereal soundscapes, reverb musings and musical ruminations. As a whole, "Pool Party" is on par with anything that Brian Wilson has ever written (ever) and, for me, no one track exemplifies this more than "Black Hill Smoke". With its rolling, triplet cadence and nostalgic longing, the song reaches its emotional fever pitch as guitarist Kris Sampson dives deeply into a lo fi, reverb-soaked solo, coming up for air a half minute later to rejoin the chorus about a dark haired girl. The harmonies crafted between Kalen Nash (vox + guitar) and Jonathan Hall (vox + bass) melt together in such a way that it becomes impossible to tell where one voice ends and the next begins, providing a distinctly wistful and haunting aura to the record.

"Navajo", the first officially released single from "Pool Party", is more upbeat but no less serious in its innovative mission to compile a variety of textures and layers, reducing Phil Spector's esteemed Wall of Sound to a tinny afterthought.

But don't let all of the expansive and dreamlike tracks on this album fool you. Ponderosa is, at its heart, a rock n roll band, and the strongest tie between "Pool Party" and the band's 2011 debut album "Midnight Revival" - which is nothing short of an Allman Brothers-meets-The Doors roadhouse classic - would have to be the new track "Get A Gun". With a throbbing, hypnotic bass line that evokes images from a Leonard Cohen novel, the song is a heavy, melodic grind, in stark yet complimentary contrast to the hopeful "On Your Time" and the bewitchingly desolate "Cold Hearted Man".

When a Greenville festival goer bellowed out a request for "Devil On My Shoulder" from the 2011 release, Ponderosa quickly obliged and tore into a whiskey-rocking, sweat-inducing rendition of the tune. Complete with guitar shredding and an emphatic thrashing of the drum kit, Ponderosa proved that beautiful music doesn't have to take a back seat to ballsy rock n roll.

Ponderosa's website: www.ponderosamusic.com
Follow the band on twitter @Ponderosa_music


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