Dead Pony

All too often, life in the music industry can feel like flogging a dead horse. A machine that runs on the blood, sweat and tears of those who dare to dream, its cycles of suffocating expectation, soul-sucking slog and sh*tty broken promises are enough to break the spirits of most bands. For rising Scottish stars Dead Pony, however, realising the ignorance of others gave them the knock they needed to reconnect with their musical roots and take control of their own destiny.

“We don’t like being ignored,” begins towering guitarist and lead composer Blair Crichton. “That’s true of being overlooked by one person, or one group of people. But when you’re in a band like ours, the feeling is magnified. It’s not just a case of any given individual not giving a sh*t about what you’re doing; it’s the millions – or billions – of people who could be listening to you.”

Although that striking band-name started life long before they’d come to this realisation, it’s become ever more emblematic of what they’re all about. If childish aspiration can be characterised by the frolicking pony for which a million kids have begged their parents, Dead Pony represents the end of that innocence: that bitter adult understanding of how dark and cruel the world can be.

“Plus, it’s just so fuckin’ sad!” grins livewire vocalist Anna Shields. “A horse – a pony – is one of the most beautiful, majestic creatures on the planet, and there’s something really tragic about the idea of it lying there dead. That sense of waste, and the anger and confusion it brings, reflects what we’ve been feeling recently – but coming to terms with it has kinda’ become the vibe of this band.”

IGNORE THIS

"DEAD PONY’s debut album Ignore This is heavy, loud, and with the aim to be impossible to ignore, it’s a major success. The band were sick and tired of trying to be what the modern music industry wanted, continually being ignored and lost in an oversaturated crowd despite doing what they’d been told. Ignore This is their response to that feeling. Expanding on this, guitarist and lead composer Blair Crichton said: “As a band, we’ve experienced an awful lot of being ignored. We really don’t like that. So we set about making a debut LP so good that people had to pay attention. It’s a record that literally dares people to ‘Ignore THIS…’”

The album starts with the antagonist is ignorance, a track that builds momentum before getting into the real nitty gritty. This is the first of four shorter tracks on the album that work almost like ads to break it up, keeping you on your toes. Each interlude track is completely different from one another and the rest of the album, which feels rather cinematic when the album’s played from start to finish.

From here, we’re introduced to Ignore This’ key, most consistent features: heavy, thrashing guitars, catchy vocals, and glitchy electronic audio effects that often feel post-apocalyptic in how they’re used. The album is designed to feel like flipping through old VHS tapes, in the same way that QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE made Songs For The Deaf (2002) feel like flicking through radio stations. This is done well, with the band incorporating external audio clippings into tracks, as well as an overall white noise, fizzling-like quality. The title track is full of many different layers that continually overlap and switch places. Sometimes the vocals slip below the guitar noise – a clever nod to how the band feel ignored and pushed down by the modern music industry."