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Ass Ponys "Grim"
Safe House Records, Lebannon, NH, released: 1993
The album cover features not a bit of irony with a young man inside a painting. "Grim" is classic Ass Ponys, from the opening "Big Rock Ending" (which is just that, a great ending of some rock song that may or may not exist) to the dramatic "Stupid". Their brand of guitar-driven pop always serves to satisfy and with "Grim", they didn't skimp on the tunes.

A great showcase for the vocals of John Erhardt. Again showing us his panache with straigt talkin', 'aw shucks' candor, and occasionally touching on the falsetto side of things.

Features classic with the rollicking "Not Since Superman Died". While the song coincides with the comic book death of DC's Superman, the song is in part based on the movie "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer". It is decidedly the highpoint of the album with its eloquent use of the fiddle.

While 1993 had it's fill of grunge-a-likes, the Ass Ponys were a very solid, and thoroughly listenable Ohio Band. Not the best, not the worst, but something solid you could sink your teeth into and walk away with a good listen.
[John Barker 8/30/98]
 
 
  Ass Ponys, "Electric Rock Music"
A&M records, released: 1994
And all the dumb things I've done. This is the country bone of music offerings. Inspired from the similar influences of Wilco, Sun Volt. Early days remind me of Green on Red (any takers?). Smart-assed college types with a tip of hat to the dulcimer and mandolin. Bluegrass comes to mind in song structure and purpose. It really boils down to jangly pop with high falsetto voices. Did I mention that I like this? I like this quite a bit. The songs are well writen and have some bite to them. But I notice that I like this less than there 1990 release, "Mr. Superlove". "Mr. Superlove" has a song called "Peanut Butter" (a cover of the Human Beinz song), this album has a song called "Mr. Peanut", hmmm, what are they trying to say here. Fishing, Grandma, and Love of Jesus songs, am I making myself clear!
[BdeV 6/18/97]