CD Reviews

Poni Hoax

Images of Sigrid | Tigersushi

By MICHAEL BRODEUR | August 12, 2008

3.0 Stars

What to do with a band like France’s Poni Hoax, who waste the first six minutes of their album leaking a molasses Nick Cavey rip-off of (homage to?) “Paint It Black” in the form of “The Paper Bride”? It’s like having neighbors with a big, tempting fence around their backyard — not an insurmountable blockade, but whatever’s behind it had better be worth the climb. On Images of Sigrid, it is: the off-kilter synths, kitschy gang vox, and softened dance-punk vibe of “You’re Gonna Miss My Love” are nothing but lovable — if you’ve no need for surplus Klaxonesque sass. “Crash Pad Driver” finds the fumy baritone of Nicolas Ker comfortably lost among synthy vines, Strokesian guitars, and an assortment of chaotic electro-bits. “My Own Private Hood” manages to be glitchy, noir, and airy all at once — which isn’t shocking when you consider that Images was produced by Tigersushi honcho and remix dynamo Joakin Bouaziz, whose approach to the boards has always been versatile, if not downright polyglot. Seethers like “Hypercommunication” and “You of the Broken Hands” are effective (if effectively forgettable), but they’re balanced by upbeat beauties like the hypertidy “Antibodies” and the Talking Heads trip of “All Things Burn.” Poni Hoax are, it’s clear, out to crash the increasingly humdrum post-disco party (just with better supplies), so it’s only fair that you crash theirs.