The new Jetstream Pony album is here. Indie-heads should be all over this as it hits that sweet spot that the bands these folks were in always did in the past. Bowerbirds and Blue Things then is a lively romp through styles we all likely fell in love with a few decades ago. This is music which is perpetually welcomed by listeners like me.
Beth Arzy (The Luxembourg Signal/Trembling Blue Stars/Aberdeen) is on vocals and percussion, Shaun Charman (The Wedding Present/The Popguns/The Fireworks) is on guitar and vocals, Kerry Boettcher is on bass, and Tom Levesley is on drums. The crunchy opener "Sit and Wonder" aims for the skies, while the drum-heavy (in a good way) "Frustration Can Cause Accidents" places Beth's voice in a setting not entirely unlike those earliest sides from The Darling Buds, or The Primitives. Elsewhere, "Only If You Want To" punches far above its weight, a beefy run through C86-style hooks, while "Captain Palisade" marches to a similar tune, all big hooks, guitars turned up to 11, and breathy vocals.
Jetstream Pony make this sort of look too easy. They reach for hooks, find them, and then ride them into the sun. Fans who came of age in the Eighties or Nineties will find lots here that harks back to bands from that era (obviously, given Arzy's pedigree). But, Jetstream Pony find a way to sort of polish that sort of material so that it feels like you're hearing this kind of thing in a new way. The cuts are bright, smartly rendered, and uniformly peppy and catchy. What's not to love?
Bowerbirds and Blue Things by Jetstream Pony will be out on Friday, March 28, 2025 on Shelflife Records here in the States.
[Photo: Shelflife Records / Jetstream Pony]