Pony Up!

"Matthew Modine didn't make Edie's list, but Montreal's Pony Up! more than made up for that slight on their Pony Up! debut EP (Dim Mak), which rhymes the actor's name with "blow-job queen" and "creamy jeans". Bringing back the sassy bite of 90s cuddlecore in songs that parse like a tougher Tuscadero, or Cub invested with the Donnas' libido, the all-lady quintet note in their musical mash note "Matthew Modine" that the Full Metal Jacket and Private School star is already married. "But are you into polygamy?" they ask, in a cloud of massing, group-hug harmonies. "'Cause we are, like, totally free, and we could move to New York State, and go on lots of dates, and you could bring Phoebe Cates." This time around, however, the Pony girls will have to settle for bringing Pit Er Pat and Menomena to T.T.'s on Wednesday - The Boston Phoenix

Words: Patrick Sean Taylor
Pony Up! have the feel of a big inside joke. You can just hear the fits of conspiratorial giggles that must accompany every practice session. Listening to it I was reminded of my old housemate and her girlfriends and how I was constantly kept awake by their squealing peals of laughter as they would stay up talking shit about celebrities and ex-boyfriends in our kitchen. If my housemate and her friends formed a band, it would sound like this.
Pony Up! avoid the heavy metal jailbait chic of the Runaways and the Donnas, and the punked up feminist anger of Bikini Kill. They sound a little like a better-produced, less politicized Bratmobile, and share that band's cheery lack of musical ability.  There are jokey songs like "Shut Up and Kiss Me" and "Matthew Modine", with its chorus of "Oh Matthew Modine, we want to be your blowjob queen/Oh Matthew Modine, we think you are peachy keen." There are also more serious songs (the piano-ballad "Marlon Brando's Laundromat", the Sleater-Kinney-esque "Minstrel") The latter tracks show the direction that the band is hopefully moving towards.
Pony Up! perfectly capture female adolescence. This record is basically a teen movie put to music form, but in a good way. They may not be musical geniuses, but they are a lot of fun. - Clamor

Words: Carla Costa
It's not easy to write charming/hilarious/flirty pop songs that aren't sickeningly sweet, but Montreal's Pony Up! makes it happen with flawless, quirky ingenuity. Sidestepping pop's emo self-obsession for wicked playfulness, Pony Up! offers charismatically off-kilter song structures that sway between dark melodies and bright vocal harmonies, and they opt for lyrics like: "yeah, you're funny/You're cute/but let's move on, that's all been proven/If I left you wouldn't miss me/I don't care/Shut up and kiss me." Lindsay Willis(drums) and Lisa Smith (bass/vocals) keep the rhythm section tight while Laura Willis (keyboard/vocals)and Camilla Wynn Ingr (everything else) add eclectic timbres. Alternating lead vocals with guitarist Sarah Moundroukas' jangly appleggios gives each track unique sensibilities-the kind titles like "Marlon Brando's Laundromat" and love songs for Mathew Modine deserve. Pony Up! is like that friend who's a complete spaz...and undeniably loveable.
- XLR89