NASHVILLE |PONDEROSA
Critical Soundbites
for their new album Pool Party
(New West Records)
“A dark groove haunts the soaring chorus and chiming guitars on this track from the rock quintet’s Pool Party.”
–Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY, Playlist re first single “Navajo”, (6/19/12)
“…the sound is now pensive, spacey pop with elements of Pink Floyd’s atmospherics mixed into an arty, wistful but accessible cloud. …it’s a step in the right direction as these songs blend together to yield lovely, predominantly pensive music enhanced by overdubs of percussion and multi-layered waves of strummed guitars.”
–Hal Horowitz, AMERICAN SONGWRITER (4 out-of-5 CD review, August 2012)
“Ponderosa ‘Pool Party’ Imagine The Everly Brothers’ close harmonies tumbling through a psychedelic car wash.”
–Jim Farber, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, Top Ten Songs for Sunday, August 5 (8/5/12)
“Pool Party is a summer album in more ways than one. Forget the timing alone; this is the album that will make you crave the long, lazy nights and hot sticky days long after the heat has retreated. Pool Party is a series of sleepy ballads drenched in the nostalgia of our youth. Its lyrics are brimming with former loves and faded memories, and with every new song it ticks off yet another experience many have known.”
— Megan Farokmanesh, PASTE, (8.6-out-of-10 CD review, 7/31/2012)
“Their expansive new deal is a majestic dream-folk sound akin to more baroque peers like Fleet Foxes or Loud Valley. … ‘Navajo’ is an epic beauty.”
–Bao Le Huu, ORLANDO WEEKLY, (4-out of 5 star CD review, 8/2/2012)
“Atlanta’s Ponderosa, which blew everyone away at the Savannah Stopover in March, has a new record out. Pool Party is a sonic wonderland, a multi–hued destination where dreamlike psychedelia meets well–crafted harmonies, where southern–basted rock ‘n’ roll shakes hands with ambient color washes and reverb.”
–Bill DeYoung, CONNECT SAVANNAH, Savannah, GA 8/29/12
“‘Navajo,’ the lead single, has just the right combination of reverb and bombast, especially when the song hits its stride in the chorus.”
–Jon Bernstein, CONSQUENCE OF SOUND, (8/2/2012)
“…southern gothic dream pop…”
–Steve Leggett, ALL MUSIC (7/31/2012)
“Atlanta indie rockers Ponderosa are well worth your attention, combining psychedelic, soul and Southern rock to create music that’s hauntingly beautiful and irresistibly catchy all at the same time.”
–Megan Farokhmanesh, PASTE, (5/22/2012)
“…expansive, celestial sonic quadrants. Soaring, interstellar harmonies, booming drums, spatial textures, offbeat tangents and reverb aplenty are a few of their newfound traits on full display for the new elpee, which brings them closer in approach to that of groups like Band of Horses, My Morning Jacket and Athens’ Futurebirds. “
–Jeff Clark, STOMP AND STAMMER, (5/28/2012)
“…mesmerizing, as in ‘Navajo,’ where the rumbling tension gives way to an emphatic release of energy, or on ‘Pool Party,’ which builds into a kind of heavenly chorale.”
–Lee Zimmerman, BLURT, 7-out-of-10 star album review (8/8/12)
“[On ‘Navajo,’] frontman Kalen Nash comes across as more of a kindred spirit of Jónsi as opposed to Chris Robinson in the brisk, uneasily translated verses of the song before Nash galvanizes his magnificent howl as the structure detonates into the most splendid radio-ready chorus of the summer for rock and roll lovers with an ear for impeccable pop. Don’t be surprised if you don’t hear a more enchanting three-and-a-half minute rock song with such a gargantuan hook before year’s end.”
–Justin Wesley, SILVER TONGUE, 4-out-of-5 CD review, (8/7/12)
“Full of omnipresent guitar riffs complemented by consistent drum beats reassuring the band from behind, each track maps out a new facet of Ponderosa’s ever-evolving sound, coaxing listeners along a wandering journey through the peaks and valleys of some otherworldly sonic landscape. The album is wonderfully produced with intricate layering techniques that give each song depth…”
–Meghan Meier, 1146 MILES (indie blog, 8/2/2012)
“…surf dream pop sound in the likes of Beach House or Best Coast, but with a dark Southern presence. The first single, ‘Navajo,’ layers shimmering rhythm guitars, echoey vocals, and fading synth highlights on top of Nash’s boasting lyrics.”
–Kegan Warner, OPEN AIR (blog, 7/17/2012)
For PONDEROSA publicity, contact:
Libby Coffey/MSO 818-380-0400 x224
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