The recently posted video for ‘Mountains’ by Pit Ponies only adds to the almost slapstick pathos and understated humour this excellent London band achieve so well.
Taken from the forthcoming album ‘Magnificent Second Occupation’, due for release on the 7th of August, this is another behemoth of a track, which typifies the songs Pit Ponies produce. Simple, yet beautifully crafted, their music has a shabby magnificence. There is a resilience to the adversity life throws at them, showing the ability to give it the finger and have a good time anyway.
The video sees the band performing in a pub populated by disinterested, gaudily clad ‘ladies’ and the inimitable Patrick Lyons, patron saint of the South London music scene, doing some impeccable drunken dad-dancing. The band haven’t dressed up. Euan Hartley delivers his fractured, heartfelt vocals in a T-shirt that has seen better days, although this can hardly diminish his stage presence. However, as is always the case with this band, it’s the music that’s the real star, the beautiful melodies produced by Albert John on guitar and Chris OC on keyboards, expertly underpinned by the bass of Chris Fillary and Dean Porter on drums. Together, they produce music that addresses the eternal problems of love, loss, unfaithfulness and growing old, in a fresh and vital way.
RIFFED's Rating: 9/10