Pony immature and unoriginal

Pony Up!'s debut seven-song EP is original. Unfortunately, it's not so original to be called inventive. It's original in the sense that no one else wants to sound like them. The all-femme five member band of sisters, co-workers, roommates and best friends, hailing from Montreal, has gotten attention as the first band signed to Aussie indie-boy Ben Lee's boutique label Ten Fingers. It is important to note that he never went anywhere either.\nTheir music bears a resemblance to a female version of one of those early emo man bands. One could compare their sound to that of Dashboard Confessional going through puberty. The album starts out fine enough. Give Lisa Loeb a xylophone and a punk rock attitude and tell her to go at it -- that's the first song, "Shut Up and Kiss Me." Sadly, its initial lyrics match my own sentiments regarding this album: "Yeah, you're funny. Yeah, you're cute, but let's move on, that's all ..."\nOn "Minstrel" the Quebecois quintet's lead and background vocals aren't particularly outstanding, nor are they consistently on pitch. "Marlon Brando's Laundromat" is my favorite song on the album. I imagine the girls were watching an Eisley video and thought, "Hey, we can do that ... and with an accordion!" The end result shows they can't, but the lyrics are at least a step up. "Swans" reminds me of either a high school talent show or a local-yokel state fair bandstand -- one where anybody could be up onstage. And "Matthew Modine" rips a Beach Boys chorus while the Mates of State-esque, happy-go-lucky vocals wouldn't pass the first round of "American Idol." On it, they sing about a little-known actor they find attractive being "peachy keen" and giving them "creamy jeans." Now that's yucky. Plus, the song's climax is marked by obnoxious Yoko Ono-esque orgasmic shrieking. "Going Nowhere" is definitely Nintendo-ish with its synthesizer part. The last number, a lullaby called "Toy Piano," reminds me of the combination of a music box, piano and the acrid taste of the sort of childhood nostalgia for a time you'd like to forget. It has all the enthusiasm and liveliness of "The Virgin Suicides" girls singing in unison.\nIn spite of all this, I remain hopeful. Even Hot Hot Heat's debut was poorly produced and rough around the edges. Maybe down the road we will see something from Pony Up! that doesn't sound like a Kidz Bop version of the Unicorns or a strikingly unfunny Moldy Peaches record.