ARTIST: Pontiak
TITLE: Maker
LABEL: Thrill Jockey Rcords
GENRE: Indie
BITRATE: 209kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 41m total
RELEASE DATE: 2009-04-07
RIP DATE: 2009-04-23
Track List
----------
1. Laywayed 2:54
2. Bloodpride 1:46
3. Wax Worship 5:40
4. Headless Conference 1:14
5. Wild Knife Night Fight 2:01
6. Heat Pleasure 1:34
7. Aestival 3:35
8. Maker 13:32
9. Seminal Shining 1:58
10. Honey 4:30
11. AASSTTEERR 2:31
Release Notes:
http://www.myspace.com/pontiak
The synergy of the three Carney brothers strikes again on their third release in
just over a year. Retiring to their small barn studio in Virginia, Van,
Jennings, and Lain tested the limits of their amps and recorded the exhausted
sighs of their overdriven tubes by themselves while pushing out their earthy
brand of stoner rock for Thrill Jockey. It's not quite as rollicking as an
outing by, say, Fu Manchu or Kyuss, but it's a little more edgy than some of
their contemporaries -- take Dead Meadow's Old Growth, for example. In "Wax
Worship," a drum solo downshifts slowly into a drudgingly half-time beat
accented by fuzzy guitar drones and warm, airy vocal harmonies. At the best
moments, the brothers show off their ability to make dynamic shifts, and seem to
take pride in spacing out as hard-rocking songs transition easily into long,
liquid instrumental passages. You could blame this on them becoming transfixed
and entranced by the solitude of their country surroundings. Or maybe they
really are stoned.
Xlr8tr (8/10), "Maker jumps confidently between retro-psych (α la Dead Meadow)
and sledgehammer riffage (α la Shellac); there are moments of piercing
dissonance (ôWax Worship,ö ôHeadless Conferenceö) and stoner-rock bliss (the
epic 13-minute title track). And throughout it all, the Carney boys never back
off from the pummeling intensity afforded by these intimate live recordings.
Pontiak cuts to the quick."
Wired Magazine:, "It's beyond refreshing to hear guitars unfurl and growl the
way do in Pontiak's perfect soundscaping. The digital age has birthed too many
wankers, but this Virginia-based riff pusher is having none of it, even though
the band usually records mostly live and in one or two takes. Led by Van,
Jennings and Lain Carney, three brothers from the Blue Ridge Mountains, Pontiak
delivers powerful anthems that worm their way into your lobes and lay beautiful,
noisy eggs."
Brainwashed, "The discÆs title track pretty much encapsulates the entire albumÆs
ethos into a single 13 minute track, getting in bass heavy sludge, dissonant
guitar noise, jazzy improvisation, and pure stoner rock all together in a way
that makes sense. ... For a young band, Pontiak definitely has their proverbial
shit together when it comes to sound and style."
Mojo (4/5) "...delivers nuanced amplifier worship in excelsis."
Rocka Rolla, "A glorious record, with a deeply warm and almighty delivery."
Wire (UK) "Pontiak's organic approach comes as a breath of fresh air. ... An
elongated power surge."
Other Music, "PontiakÆs ominous, primal sound is captured in Maker with raw
mostly-live takes and impressive ingenuity. The three farm-raised Carney
brothers (Van, Jennings, and Lain) have an intuitive, communal way of playing
together, creating a dark, growling, psychedelic sound that is eerily inforced
by choral vocals and the droning, dwindling hum of intentionally dying amps."
StrangeGlue (8/10), "Maker stomps about like some kind of heaving beast that
your eyes canÆt quite get a fix on. There is a quivering in the air, a heat
haze. You could call Pontiak a defiant band, drawing a line in the sand for
anyone who travelled across the desert with the amiable vibrations of Sun on
Sun, their previous full length. Maker makes an ascent into the hills and
forests beyond that line, into mountainous terrain."
Subba Cultcha (4.5 Headphones), "Comparisons donÆt come easy, but if you
remember the expansive, psychedelic stylings of post-grunge troupe Truly, cross
breed them with the last couple of Bad Seeds albums and the heavy, droning dirge
of the God Machine. That should put you somewhere in the ball park. ... Heavy
without being metal, experimental without falling to bits and original without
being inaccessible, this is a special band, perhaps in part due to the fact that
it is composed of three brothers and therefore a great deal of jamming time has
been possible. ItÆs still growing on me, but I know ôMakerö isnÆt going to be
freed from my CD drive for a while yet."
Onda Rock (7.5/10) -- translated -- , "Never repetitive, the album offers many
faces, as in "aestival" the group marries the dark side of Nick Cave and the
poetry of Bill Callahan putting in the delicate acoustic ballad sounds ecstatic
and furious that seem to leave the pages of rock Pink Floyd. ... All that "Sun
On Sun" promised is translated into reality in this excellent new chapter of one
of the best American band in recent years."
Blurt Magazine, "... it's clear that Pontiak diverge from their psych-rock
contemporaries in their ability to drape volume-dealing trippiness atop tightly
wound aggression. Classic rock bangs up against free-noise chaos, homespun
folkiness is rendered hostile by maxed-out reverb and fuzz, and, by teh [sic]
time the epic title track closes out the disc, a thorough brain-scrubbing has
been delivered alongside a brutal ass-whupping."
Citizen Dick, "After listening to PontiakÆs third Thrill Jockey release, Maker,
for the fourth time through, one thing is abundantly clear; this is not tea
sipping music. ... Many tracks on the record were recorded in one, live take,
and this all inclusive style is kicking me hard where it counts right now."
Creative Loafing Atlanta (4 Stars), "The stuttering "Laywayed," the noisy bursts
of "Heat Pleasure," and the hyper-manic clusters of guitar and drums in
"Headless Conference" come together like pop fodder fitted with deep, dark
grooves and warrior crooning."