Ponytail “Do Whatever You Want All The Time”

Do Whatever You Want All The Time … sure, I’d love to!

Ponytail’s latest release is another example of how free-spirited the band is. Their seven-track album is literally a bowl of musical jumbo that can’t be described, or even classified, as a particular genre.

Apparently, the Baltimore quartet have always been a bit experimental in terms of their music, but they’ve gone over the edge for their third album, with an instrumental mash-up of tunes that feature the occasional vocal shrieks, noises, yells, effects and more. Music is definitely an art form, but Ponytail has redefined its definition and taken it to new heights! In my eyes (and to my ears) they’re like a Jackson Pollock equivalent to music—vibes just thrown in together to create sounds (some that go together and others that are just a crazy ass mess).

Nonetheless, Do Whatever You Want All The Time is filled with interesting music that would be ten times better if you were baked or fried. Actually, you’d probably literally see the music coming out in different shapes and colors if you were…it’s that unusual, yet extraordinary.

Each track is filled to the brim with repetitive melodies, guitar chords and strums, bird-like chirps, yells, screams, up-tempo beats and everything else you can possibly think of in terms of music. Since each track sounded the same to me, it was sort of hard to tell when one track ended and the other began. But if you listen to the weird noises vocalist Molly Siegel creates, you just might be able to tell the difference between the tracks.

With that said, the guitar bursts are pretty cool on all the songs, so kudos to guitarists Dustin Wong and Ken Seeno for being masters of some dizzying swirls of chords that will make your head spin! Then there are the catchy and addictive beats that drummer Jeremy Hyman gets down on.

Actually, the noises that are seriously indescribably random on beginning of “Beyondsville/Flight of Fancy” was the only track that I could tell was different from the rest. You have to listen to it yourself to understand the effects that went into making it. It’s the second longest song on the album, and makes you wonder if they got some kids to help out and make a bunch of noise.

Do Whatever You Want musically depicts Ponytail’s aim to make whatever kind of music they want (which doesn’t make for the greatest of albums), but it does give them extra points for being creative. The cover art is also really cool and colorful! You can stare at it for hours and still find something new that you didn’t notice before.

As an album filled with “happy, happy, joy, joy” music that should be the perfect soundtrack to a cartoon or something, Ponytail’s “art” makes for awesome tunes to listen to when you’re in an altered state. However, all the repetitiveness might get annoying after awhile once your high comes down.

Words: Kristie Bertucci