by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Nearly two years to the day, Phoenix by-way-of Tempe, Arizona’s Twin Ponies have returned with their sophomore full length, Body On Credit. Due out Friday, October 11th, the band continue to flex their knack for knotted post-hardcore and sleepy slacker-pop charm, creating something that feels warm and familiar, but unpredictable and slightly on-edge. The band capturedt our hearts on the last record with a combination of sinewy guitar riffs and under-emphasized melodies that were buried just beneath the fuzz, and they’ve doubled down on Body On Credit, adding a hazy fog to their sprawl that bolsters their rollercoaster dynamics.
From the album opener “Southern Pacific / Domino” with it’s trickle into an eventual avalanche of sliding distortion and slowcore tension to the sparse and haunting finale “Groaned,” the quartet play with elastic frameworks, intelligently stumbling around instead of opting for a straight forward approach. The rough and tangled “Losing Out” keeps you constantly thrown off the course and intricately invested in every shift and stuttered pause. The key is the twangy slurred vocal line, adding a garbled but comforting melody to the otherwise mangled and discordant rawness. “Lwn Mwr” takes abrasive stabs into tight and rattled math rock, twitching and erupting from the start, managing to put another grounded melody over their progressions, making something jagged feel accessible in the end. It’s a gift that Twin Ponies are eager to share throughout Body on Credit.