EP Review: Dead Pony - 'War Boys'
Get ready to roll out the ragged carpet of red-hot, there's a new band in town. This is Dead Pony.
A collective hailed by the bold and brazen of Sam Fender and Wolf Alice - with a headline show in London's new flavour, The Lower Third to back up claims - Dead Pony are appearing with an impressive track record already. Equipped with battle-ready choruses, debut EP War Boys is their first stab into the dark, seedy underbelly of Glasgow's fertile hard rock/post-punk movement. It's a more calculated stab however, as pre-released singles of 23, Never Me, Bullet Farm, Zero and self-titled War Boys have all revelled in monstrous attention and with a fabulous festival season under their belts with many-a appearances, the Scottish trio have really hit the ground running.
Now, with the release of their first official EP, it's official. I Don't Need A Lot and All Dressed Up For Nothing complete the fold to a truly exciting EP that has flairs and dabbles of grunge, punk and hard rock with sounds similar to the soft and hard undertones of Wolf Alice and Bikini Kill.
First, the EP doesn't want to hang back, as it kicks into overdrive with Bullet Farm. A fast heavy-hitter with tasty guitar licks and mustered chops to match, "you were falling out of place / and i want to get back to ya/ when our feelings are not natural (you call me crazy but I really know that I'm nice)" it sets the bar for what's coming up..
A perfect sentiment to a stadium belter, stand-out single has to be Zero. The guys sonic aggression and attitude in this song is matched only with a chorus that is ready to be stuck in your head for weeks at a time. Unfettered artistic prowess, it is the fall-out single that the rest of the EP is based around, as it plays out a balancing game between anger and control: "...When Blair wrote the riff it acted as a gateway to a whole new style of songwriting. The song combines electronic elements, samples and high energy rock akin to The Prodigy. When the band got together the whole song was written in 10 minutes. Zero continues our current trend of post apocalyptic songwriting without directly referencing any particular subject."
Self-titled, War Boys is another dirty trailblazer that will slap you in the face silly with its explosive antics, "We don't need to talk about it anymore / Kick you on the curb and make you shut the door / Get used to gettin', ah, ah, get used to gettin' / We don't need to talk about it anymore / Kick you on the curb and put you on the floor / Get used to gettin', ah, ah, get usеd to gettin.'"
23, Never Me finishes off an emphatic trial, as fast and fuzzy reaches boiling point for another battle-ready chorus reaching dizzying heights, "can't save me from another problem / never let your feelings show / know it, I, know it, I know it, I know / I know he's gone."
Embracing a catharsis within themselves as a band, they took the executive decision to write, record and mix the whole EP at home in Glasgow, revelling in the true spirit of what type of band they truly are - raucous and off the chain.
Fantastically simplistic in nature, it's a no-holds-barred rock EP that does exactly what it says on the tin. Brilliant stuff. War Boys is out on the 23rd of September, via LAB Records.
Words by Alex Curle
