Review Summary: Prepare to be totally obliterated by a poisonous, yet tightly constructed performance
Crawling out of the sludgy, angst-ridden city of Los Angeles,
Distorted Pony utilized elements of industrial, noise rock, and post-hardcore to create an entertaining and headache-inducing brand of music that could be described as anything but forgettable. Their 1992 debut
Punishment Room acts as the perfect soundtrack for the fearful and nihilistic, complete with screeching guitars, inhuman drumming, and vocals that could make your skin crawl.
Right off the bat you’re absolutely annihilated with “H.O.D.”, a furious number that drills and grinds against your mind. The drums sound like they were being performed by machines rather than a living, breathing human being. It almost hurts to listen to the guitars; they rush at a blistering speed, and I can only imagine how fu
cked up the guitarist’s fingers where after they recorded that track. The vocals are intense, the dense groaning (supplied by David Uskovich) adds a whole entire layer of uncomfortableness that is absolutely shattered by the devastating, explosive chorus, which is practically fueled by Dora Jahr’s vocals, which is a key element to the album.
I swear, Dora Jahr is fuc
king
scary. To say she sounds livid on this album would be an understatement. She screams with pure hatred, and even when she tries to sing “calmly”, there’s still an overbearing amount of disgust in her tone of voice that makes it impossible to feel even the slightest amount of safety. Probably one example of how well she can perform is shown on “Splinter”. Here, we find her sneering in the nastiest tone possible over a buzzy bass that just reeks of death.
“Crystal cracks/Just like you” she barks, making you feel like you’re nothing. To save your time: Jahr is a great performer, so much, in fact, that she makes Uskovich’s vocals sound boring.
The problem here is that her vocals are so beastly that Uskovich’s sounds completely tamed in comparison. Granted, that might of been the band’s intent, but it still doesn’t work well. David Uskovich moans and bleak crooning sound pretty spooky when isolated from Jahr’s screeches, but when combined, they sound bland and bored. However, what saves his bored vocal performance is the band’s enjoyable instrumentation. It can range from being a full-fledged aural attack to surprisingly accessible and melodic, as evident with tracks such as “Gut Bug”. The bass is mean, but the soaring guitars keep the mood somewhat happier. Jahr and Uskovich’s vocals, for once, surprisingly harmonize together in a very appealing fashion, and the cold, repetitive drumming gives the track a hypnotic ability, making it all the more irresistible to listen to.
Distorted Pony debuted with an album that contained a good mix of sludgy industrialized noise rock with punk leanings. The band utilize their sound and influences to carve out a solid recording that will be sure to both please and ruin ears simultaneously. While some performances can overshadow others, it’s still a very worthy listen to anyone interested in noisy music.
