Josy And Pony – Eponyme

Rockerill / Freaksville

Josy And Pony have been gigging all across Europe since their first album dropped in 2017, and now they return with another fun-packed ride through the important matters of the day — but given their unique twist on ’60s French pop, ’90s indie and carefree hypnotic abandon. It is all topped off as ever with the mysteriously masked Josy’s winning French vocals, sometimes sultry, sometimes forceful but always speaking her mind. According to the press release, the band is for vegans, feminists and beer lovers; but after a few listens, I think there will be more people than that making their way to Rockerill / Freaksville‘s website.

The short intro allows the band to insinuate themselves with a ramshackle ’80s indie vibe that just reminded me a little of The Brilliant Corners in feel, but with Josy’s lovely, swoopy organ and the voice is somehow playful but forthright at the same time. Josy sounds like character, but I wouldn’t want to mess with her. There is fabulous bass and shuffling drums on “La Crinière” and the chiming guitar is relegated to a slash here and there. I could imagine throwing myself around a nineties disco to this as the organ rudely grabs the song by the collar and launches it. Also, Josy isn’t afraid to sit back from the singing and allow the group to have a little freak out if the mood takes them.

Unfortunately, I can’t follow French well enough to know how deep the lyrics go; but again, according to the press release, harassment, fundamentalism and the status of women are amongst the subjects covered, but there also appears to be a lot of equine song titles. The drunken, tumbling drums of “Sullivan” give an uneven lollop to the song which at one point, after a breathy interjection, the band disappear down a psych rabbit hole with an agitated guitar line that tries to lift the lid on the subtly building momentum. When the banks finally burst, we are covered with sticky flickers of starry organ.

It is as if the group inhabits different worlds as the album progresses, with the crawling tempo of “Bye Bye Ecurie”, with its harsh cymbal sound and tinkered electronics slowing down and stopping at a whim, making way for the gay abandon of the Stereolab-like “Ânon Petit Con”, with its utterly beguiling hypnotic repetition. There is something about the insistence of “Indécent Pur-sang” that would make a good cop show theme, Josy’s metallic vocals moving from echoey to shouty at the drop of a hat; but it is a really easy voice to listen to and the band are just great, revelling in the odd influence but — as on “Deux Cheveux Mustang”, the skipping beat, the burst of skybound guitar and wash of keys is all there.

I must confess, by now, I thought I had the measure of the band, but the final track “Epilogue: Manege A3” is a whole other ball game. The band takes this chance to really explore with looped phrases and sitar drone gradually evolving as other loops are introduced. They are truly showing their mysterious and playful sides as a heavy organ drone with backwards voices goes on and on, tape spools and echo abound; and after a while, you feel that maybe they have all left the building, allowing the tape to continue struggling with a friendly ghost or two nudging it gently on just as you think it may have finished. It does end eventually, but by then I was smitten with the overall reach of the group’s sound.

Apparently, Josy doesn’t care what people think and on the strength of this, thank goodness she doesn’t — but she and The Poneymen certainly deserve to be heard by everybody with a flicker of interest in the alternative branches of fuzzy pop loveliness. I am off to check out the previous album.

-Mr Olivetti-