Java.Oct.2016

TWIN PONIES (THE POETS)
For fans of: Pile, Television, Silverchair
Transcending their influences to create a singular,
mathematical style, Wayne Jones, Jacob Lauxman,
Phillip Hanna, and Jordan Tompkins are Twin Ponies,
and they are sincerely a force to be reckoned with.
Upon hearing their last release, 2015’s Friendly Pet
Mass Graves, I was impressed with their off-kilter and
promisingly surreal songs, reeled in by guitar hooks
and infectious polyrhythms.
I became enamored with the lyrics, written and sung
by Wayne Jones, which are integral to the sonic
portrait they create. Wayne makes poetic vignettes
from the mundane and ordinary, giving an almost
pastoral experience through his conversational
words. These are observations I made before I even
got to see them live.
Two words burst into my mind the first time
I watched a Twin Ponies show: intricate and
dangerous. The moment they stepped onstage it
was like witnessing a machine, finely tuned and
brutal in its utility. Going against meandering and
high-minded musicality, every note was necessary,
not one indulgent or wasted.
By the time they got to their final song, I knew I
was seeing something very special, even aside
from their impressive recordings. They closed that
night with one of their best songs, “Merciless and
Masculine,” a song whose effervescence on record
could not have prepared me for the aural onslaught
I witnessed in person. The performance of the
song lived up to the title, and more. I watched a
band build a hurricane onstage.
“Creating is a boredom-killer and boredom is bad
for your health,” Jones says about the artistic
compulsion to work. “Phoenix is special because
every local offering is truly unique. We’re all
different fruits.”
Twin Ponies will be performing Oct. 24 with LVL UP
and The Expos at Rebel Lounge.
JAVA 35
MAGAZINE