The Ponys

Turn the Lights Out

(Matador)

Record Review by Adam McKibbin

On their third record in the past four years, Chicago's Ponys again succeed in crafting an album stuffed with sturdy, psychedelic-inspired guitar jams for the indie-rock set. But if their fan base increases substantially in 2007, more credit will be due to their new label (Matador) than the album itself—which, while mostly engaging, isn't a marked improvement on its predecessors.

Frontman Jered Gummere and new guitarist Brian Case channel some Stones/Stooges swagger with their wiry riffs and Gummere's brash vocals (as a nod to the Stones, one tune is even named "Exile on My Street"). A carnivalesque organ and thumping percussion add further amiable bluster to "Maybe I'll Try," a self-deprecating standout ("Well, I don't know what to do / And I don't know anything about the government, my friends") topped only by the all-cylinders-firing opener, "Double Vision."

There are some murky stretches, though. At times, the Ponys rely too much on density to see them through, and prevent themselves from matching the consistent quality of their influences and kindred spirits—a list that includes Sonic Youth and, to a lesser extent, new labelmates Interpol.