Hipster Deathmachine

Scared of Ponies (2011)

alxspeyer

Pittsburgh is synonymous with metal. Although the brawny, hardhat-wearing steelworkers may have faded into memory for the most part, many of their modest homes still stand, and in the basements of these homes the children and grandchildren have been likewise toiling in near darkness. Fiercely independent punk-inflected thrash bands (or perhaps thrash-inflected punk bands, depending on your point of view) define fringe rock and roll there. House shows result in near structural collapse, and standouts like Oh Shit They're Going to Kill Us, the Short Dark Strangers and Ladybeast further hone a scene passed down from the graying Submachine and defunct Aus-Rotten.

Incorporating brass into this already strange alloy would seem like inadvisable move. Hipster Deathmachine's newest release, the Scared of Ponies EP, takes the risk anyway. Surprisingly enough, the five original songs amount to more than a pile of ambitious slag. The opening "A Whole New Kind of Doom" and "Crackah Whackah" bring their aggressive if not nearly sloppy thrash metal chops to the forefront, and show an open disdain and stylistic break from corny ska-punk acts who overpopulated the late '90s and continue to malign the genre today. The trombone and saxophone lines weave around the song structures in a manner more akin to a lead guitar player than in traditional reggae and ska fare, and the transitions between the ska elements and more aggressive–even at times dissonant–melodies are smoother than the band's previous output.

The synthesis of doomy thrash metal and danceable ska rhythms hit their full stride in the lyrically heartfelt "Double Villechaize", although I suspect the title (a reference to The Venture Bros.) must've been an inside joke or arbitrarily applied. For a band trying to remove itself from the bubblegum-style ska world, cartoon references may be a rare poor choice. The much more aptly titled "All I Eat Is Squid (A Love Letter to Mike Watt)" continues in the same musical vein as "Double Villechaize", and perhaps best showcases their uniquely positive–grounded, but not jaded–perspective.

Although started as an off-beat punk trio by former Incommunicado member Frank Cunniff, childhood friend Jared Evanoski, and Jason Kamppi in 2007, and active as a six-piece since 2009, Scared of Ponies is the first release from the current full lineup of the band. The handmade sleeves and stenciled CDs holding this weirdness are certainly worth the $2 to $5 I've seen them charge at shows; and for guys in their mid-to-late twenties, they're, as Schwarzenbach might say, "too old not to get excited." You'll feel the same way.