Essentially yet another side project for Jeff Cloud and Jason Martin, with support from various other kings of indie-rock, Pony Express initially comes across as a more ambitious Starflyer 59. Make sure you listen to Monkey Hearts at least three times before resigning it to the tangent bin, though, because when your mind's ear starts to register the courageous sonic diversity, and subtle songwriting ingenuity, it will be in for a treat. For somehow the experiment that this album surely is manages to create hooks and sanguine tones out of synthetic psychedelia, grinding distortions, and melancholy moods. The soothing vocals have a strong hand in creating this endearing landscape, but do not carry the melodic load all by themselves. Erratic, striking, careful guitar work, along with surf elements, songwriting techniques similar to, believe it or not, Mike Knott's, and sublime beats and wonderful electronic piano all contribute to the character rich album.
This EP is highly recommended, and should serve as a gauntlet to all that claim to carry the indie-rock torch of ingenuity and song-crafting excellence.
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Justin W. JonesThis new EP by Pony Express exemplifies everything that Velvet Blue Music is, and is a much needed shot in the arm for the Christian music scene. J. Cloud (Starflyer, Joy Electric), J. Martin (Starflyer), and D. Mitchell go for the lo-fi on "Monkey Hearts". The overall sound of Pony Express lies somewhere in the realm of early 90's Guided By Voices, with a touch of Starflyer 59 (but only if they…Opus 2000Reviewed by Nolan ShigleyWalk out to use the restroom and you'll probably miss this entire EP (which clocks in at just over 14 minutes). Jeff Cloud's love for EPs is evident again in the abbreviated Monkey Hearts and gives us a glimpse of what Velvet Blue's head man sounds like. If you took the time to read our interview with him, which takes longer to read than it does to listen to Monkey Hearts, you'd pretty much know…Similar sounding releases
2001RadioheadI Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings
2003FlowchartPre-2000 Singles and Comp Tracks, Vols. 1 and 2
2001MogwaiRock Action
2003Viva VoceLovers, Lead the Way!
2003Woven HandBlush Music
2005John DufilhoJohn Dufilho
