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The Crash: Pony Ride

Editorial Review

Editorial Review

Release date: 13 October 2007 (digital release: 8 September 2007)

As Regurgitator once claimed, with the kind of to-the-point eloquence for which they are renowned: “metal is big in the Baltic states”. Brave decision then for four lads from Finland to embark on a Brit-Pop direction. With their fourth album, The Crash has delivered a stellar collection of lush pop gems, and they apparently weren't even beaten up in the process. The Finns, we are led to believe, are a placid, forgiving people.

Led by Teemu Brunila's dreamy, androgynous vocals (think pensive Bjork meets a meek Billy Corgan), Pony Ride is a joyous, saccharine-fuelled trip from start to finish. Lead single Still Alive sounds like the end result of an A-Ha and Van Halen collaboration from 1985, except with the lame aspects of both those bands filtered and discarded. Grace, on the other hand, is piano-driven journey through thoughtful melancholy, soaring strings and crying guitars. “Hey Grace, I lost you” Brunila sings, and his Scando pronunciation of “lost” as “loshed” only increases the sense of endearment.

The accordions of Lauren propel the tune to locales on the other side of the English Channel (though the lyric “mais je ne sais pas qui tu es derriere ton visage digital” also helps), while the title track, driven by a double-time rhythm, is sheer, bouncy fun, with jangly guitars battling whirs of cheesy synth and Brunila's charming falsetto.

While the term 'breath of fresh air' is criminally overused, it should be applied here for its visceral suggestion. For amid the contrived, bleak and ultimately vacuous pop landscape, The Crash are vital.

Track listing
1. Pony Ride
2. Big Ass Love
3. Grace
4. Stay
5. Lauren
6. Solitudinarian
7. Thorn in My Side
8. Stalker
9. Filthy Flower
10. Reasons to Sing
11. Backstage
12. Still Alive

Juan-Pablo Chavez, September 2007