Ponies In The Surf are a brother and sister duo who originate from the Colombian capital of Bogota and now call Massachusetts their home. Fittingly their music bears influences of both North and South American, but there’s plenty of English indie pop thrown in for good measure.
The charms of ‘See You Happy’ are built around the sun-kissed harmonies of siblings Alex and Camile McGregor and the often glorious pop melodies they write. The snappy ‘Walkin’ In The City’ echoes the eccentric, anglicised indie-pop of The Monochrome Set. The escalating guitars underscoring ‘Another Mind’ may indicate a rare sense of danger but otherwise its a happy set of songs; none more uplifting than ‘Holes In The Walls’ and its killer chorus that Belle And Sebastian would die for. Elsewhere, ‘Ventricle’ and ‘Once In A While’ effortlessly and beautifully evoke youthful romance.
Also included with the first 1,000 CDs is a bonus CD containing six covers and a couple of demos. With source material from Talking Heads, Henry Mancini and Leonard Cohen, their eclectic tastes are even more apparent. Furthermore they perform them all of them well; adding their own unique slant on the originals in the process. Admittedly, there’s a strong sense that ‘See You Happy’ could have been made decades ago but the songs sound so remarkably fresh and breezy that it barely matters.
Web Sites:
Ponies In The Surf MySpace
Darla Label and Shop Site
Further Listening:
Belle And Sebastian, The Monochrome Set, The Hepburns
Leonard's Lair Music Reviews 
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