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Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2009 > March > 22 > Entry
SXSW review: Ponytail
(Midnight, American Apparel/Viva Radio, Club de Ville)
It might not be entirely accurate to call what Ponytail front woman Molly Siegel does “singing.”
We traditionally understand that phrase to denote the use of lyrics. But Siegel, with rare exceptions, has all but abandoned those in favor of assorted “oooo”s, “ahhh”s, “yaaaaays,” and, every so often, an elongated distorted cooing that vaguely resembles the sound of a pigeon on PCP.
It’s a bit of a genius idea — after all, does anybody really care that Justice or MGMT songs even have words, let alone what they mean? Baltimore quartet Ponytail’s wholesale desertion of lyrics frees up Siegel and her band mates to belt out exhilarating, wholly indiscernible vocalizations that lend their songs an instantly powerful, sing-along quality.
Toss in dueling guitars with crushing solos and a drummer who puts seizure victims to shame, and you had Ponytail’s Saturday night show at Club de Ville, a movement-filled shot of adrenaline to even the most fatigued of festivalgoers. Incorporating the occasional flash of inspiration from the most unlikely of places — be it prog rock or the opening theme of “Shaft,” whose famous drum intro was seemingly incorporated into the band’s final song — Ponytail’s flood of dance rock got an entire venue jumping.
The night climaxed as the adorable Siegel, clad in a Ray Lewis jersey and looking like the cute tomboy you crushed on in middle school, tore into a piñata onstage, ripping into it like Romero zombie into a fresh torso. As she showered the audience with candy, guitarist Dustin Wong briefly inserted a rare line of decipherable speech, screeching “Oh no I left for school!”
Did the lyric make any sense? Of course not. And as a captive audience screamed and jumped and clapped their hands underneath pulsing lights, nothing could possibly have mattered less.
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