FOR those who study the form, Sussex/Surrey four-piece Jetstream Pony are serious indie thoroughbreds.
Four singles under their belts (should that be their harness?) the band’s self-titled debut LP is out now on limited-press coloured vinyl LP, CD and download.
A quick earful and you get punky guitars with bittersweet female melodies, ripe to hook in any lover of pure indiepop in the vein of Sarah, 53rd and 3rd or Subway Records.
It’s when you have a look at the members that it all becomes clear, with the involvement of Beth Arzy (the songstress of Sarah Records’ Aberdeen, and later of The Trembling Blue Stars) alongside Shaun Charman (drummer on the Wedding Present’s George Best, and also in the first incarnation of Brighton’s The Popguns).
The quartet is completed by Kerry Boettcher on bass, and new drummer Hannes Müller.
The album is eleven tracks of proper indiepop fun – no more, no less. You can see the bloodlines in opener “It’s Fine”: the buzzsaw guitar pop has plenty of that wintry beauty you get on The Popguns’ early run of singles for Midnight Music; Beth and Shaun’s call and response vocals are the perfect counterpoint.
The fuzz bass underpinning “Mitte” has, for me, real roots in Bizarro, and the guitar melodies are lush and yearning in the best Breton-topped, fringe-over-eyes tradition.
You can even see a little of Damon & Naomi in the timeless echo and haunted harmony of “Worthless” – until those Gedgey guitars bite down. Lovelorn lyrics are the order of the day: “Should be there in your bed/And yet you’re still in my head” intones Beth on “I Think I’m Ready To Let You Go”.
It doesn’t break any new ground, sure, but you don’t need it to. This is proper indie songcraft for wistful days.
A series of dates is pencilled in for late in the year and into next: to keep abreast of announcements, keep an eye on https://www.facebook.com/jetstreamponyband – I’ll be hoping they swing down my way.
You can avail yourself of a prime slice of great guitarpop at https://jetstreampony.bandcamp.com/
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