Pontiak – Sun on Sun

My Rating: 9/10
Genre/ Tags: Psychedelic, Rock

In the summer of 2008, Pontiak had signed to their then new label Thrill Jockey, and shortly thereafter, they released their first album with them. It was a 12 inch record entitled “Kale” split with a band called Arbouretum. Before signing to Thrill Jockey, the band had put out a few self released CD’s that I had a hard time finding any concrete information on. As far as I know, the band had two releases before signing to Thrill Jockey, one being an EP and another release titled “Valley of Cats”. The best I could find on these releases comes from a record label based out of London – check it out here. Unfortunately you can’t even buy either of these CD’s on that website, but if you’ll settle for mp3’s, somebody kindly uploaded all of “Valley of Cats” onto Last.fm for free download. You can check that out right here. If it wasn’t for that I don’t know where else you would find those tracks.

But moving on. Pontiak, comprised of three brothers named Van, Jennings, and Lain Carney, all put out new material like it’s their job…which technically, I guess you could say it is their job. They’re currently in the making of their latest album “Living”, which should be out sometime in 2010. In 2009 they put out two more releases, one being titled “Sea Voids” and the other titled “Maker”. A year earlier in 2008, they put out their first full length called “Sun on Sun”, which is why I’m here today. This was the first record I had heard from Pontiak, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. The record starts out with the slow and eerie “Shell Skull” which sounds like it could be the soundtrack for a scene in a movie where a bad dude is creeping up on a good dude with intentions to kill! The face melting guitar solos are the scenes where the two dudes are duke-ing it out in efforts to save their lives!! Aw!! The second track “Swell” is an echo-y, ambient track that also brings words like creepy and eerie to mind again. Skipping ahead to the track “White Mice”, this may be the first point on the album that doesn’t potentially creep you out. About half way through they decide to draw back on the creepy (for once!) and put forth the groovy. The steady tap on the cymbal leads them into this slow, dirge-y jam that doesn’t take long until it’s heavy and all up in your face, with lead singer Van Carney howling as if he were a wolf fixated on the moon. The following track, the album titled “Sun on Sun”, is without a doubt the suite of this record, clocking in at just over 9 minutes long. As usual, things start off a bit on the mysterious side, while slowly but surely the hum of the keyboard rises to the top, followed by some laid-back guitar playing that changes the vibe from mysterious to a much more welcoming sound. Within the final two minutes, guitarist Van Carney brings the heat with some intense sliding on the guitar that can originally be heard in the beginning of the song, only to lead into some yet again face-peeling guitar work before bringing the song to a close. The next track “Tell Me About” starts off like many of these Pontiak tracks before leading into an unexpected keyboard solo topped off by screaming vocals and once again some in-yr-face guitar. The final track “The Brush Burned Fast” is a bit different from everything else on the album. It’s only an acoustic guitar and the singer (probably Van Carney) with some ambiance in the background that is strikingly similar to the ambient track “Swell”. I’m almost positive it’s the same thing. But once again, thanks for reading, and check back again real soon!!!

White Mice

Sun on Sun: Tracklist
1.) Shell Skull
2.) Swell
3.) White Hands
4.) White Mice
5.) Sun on Sun
6.) Tell Me About
7.) The Brush Burned Fast

Pontiak’s Official Website
Pontiak on Myspace
Sun on Sun – BUY! from Thrill Jockey