Freak Scene #92: Ponybird Changes Contexts on 'Fire & Stars'
Plus, Joshua David Thayer has a new single, and Erin McKeown had a change of heart
A Guide to Music in Western Mass. (and sometimes Connecticut)
This week in Freak Scene, New Haven’s Ponybird has a knack for reinvention on new album Fire & Stars, and former Fancy Trash bassist Joshua David Thayer is back with a catchy new single.
Jennifer Dauphinais has been making alt-folk music as Ponybird for going on 20 years, but the pandemic brought a new focus to the New Haven singer, songwriter and producer. Not only did Dauphinais begin releasing brooding electronic pop under the name WEAREBISON in 2021, they brought some of that same sensibility to Ponybird on a pair of EPs, Deep Meats I and Deep Meats II, released in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Dauphinais returns to a folkier sound on Ponybird’s latest, Fire & Stars, a collection of nine songs “that have been hanging in the air for a while,” as Dauphinais put it in a pre-order message on Bandcamp.
Indeed, some of these tunes date back to the beginning of Ponybird: they comprise demos, live tracks and material that has featured in Ponybird’s concert set lists for years, often in different forms. Some of the tracks here are pared-down singer-songwriter numbers featuring Dauphinais’ lustrous voice and acoustic guitar: her melody and resonant vocals carry the title track, for example, while opener “Waiver” leans toward alt-country with trebly electric guitar licks smoothing out the staccato acoustic chords that push their voice along.
Other songs are more ornately arranged. “The Knower” has an ’80 rock sheen with big electric guitars and synths that seem to hover over Dauphinais’ voice, while “Feel” is rooted in vintage Sgt. Pepper’s-style psychedelia thanks to electric piano, a round, punchy bassline and spidery guitar parts. Dauphinais also revisits Ponybird’s 2019 single “I Could Never Love You” with a version here that dials back the vocal reverb, which makes the song feel a little more restrained, but somehow no less dramatic.
That’s not the only contrast: an acoustic live version of “Thief” from 2012 is more straightforward than the dire feel of the recording on Ponybird’s 2014 release Modest Quarters, and more assured than the song sounded the first time Dauphinais released it, on Ponybird’s 2008 EP Climb Yourself Up. Elsewhere, what Dauphinais calls a “rejected” demo of “Tender Trap” from 2012 offers a retrospective look at the origins of a song that became a swift waltz-time number powered by a pulsing bassline on Modest Quarters.
The alternate imaginings are a reminder that one song can take different shapes at various moments, and none of those shapes need be considered definitive. That Dauphinais is willing to keep shaping and molding their songs as contexts change, without ever losing sight of the music’s essence, is a testament to their creativity.
Joshua David Thayer Returns with Single ‘We Won’t Relent’
It’s scarcely been a year since Joshua David Thayer released It Will Still Keep Feeling Rough, but the former Valley resident is back already with “We Won’t Relent,” the first single from a new album out next month.
The song is powerful and catchy, opening with amplifier feedback that combusts into surging guitars, a roving bassline and big, muscular drums. As he did on It Will Still Keep Feeling Rough, Thayer played everything here himself except drums, for which he tapped his friend and collaborator Jason Smith. Thayer, formerly of the Western Mass. bands Love Minus Zero, Hadley Transfer Station and Fancy Trash, recorded “We Won’t Relent” at home in Medford, where he lives now.
“‘We Won't Relent’ is a jangly, angular, forward-driving song about never quite seeing eye to eye and not being willing to really try — that stubborn, nostalgic kind of friction that keeps relationships alive even when they can’t find common ground,” Thayer says by email.
His new album, So Little, Close to Nothing, is due Dec. 5, but you can hear the whole thing tonight, Friday, at 9 p.m. right here. (Thayer also sits in on bass with the veteran Western Mass. alt-rock band Treefort Saturday, Nov. 15, at JJ’s Tavern in Florence.)
Erin McKeown Changes It Up for Iron Horse Show
After spoofing the holiday season with their anti-Christmas spectacular last year at the Iron Horse, Erin McKeown had intended to perform songs from the autobiographical stage musical Virginia for their upcoming show there Nov. 21 (tickets). Upon reflection, the Conway singer and songwriter decided the Iron Horse wasn’t the right venue for something as theatrical and personal as Virginia.
Instead, McKeown will perform as a duo with local all-star drummer JJ O’Connell. Their set will include contributions from the folk/alternative/indie quintet the Snap Dragons, who were students of McKeown’s when they taught at the Academy at Charlemont in 2023-24. The Snap Dragons will also open the show.
Upcoming Concerts
Acclaimed jazz pianist Brad Mehldau (a graduate of Hall High School in West Hartford) and his trio perform with Felix Moseholm & Jorge Rossy May 17 at the Academy of Music in Northampton (tickets).
The Drake in Amherst hosts self-described “nü-pop band” Cheem Jan. 30 with the Missing Peace and Slow Degrade (tickets), and the Magnolia & Johnson Electric Co. — members of Magnolia Electric Co. with the excellent Will Johnson of Centro-matic and other projects — April 11 (tickets).
The Marigold Theater in Easthampton hosts Madska, Local Honeymoon, Sleep Destroyer and Radical Joy Wednesday, Nov. 16 (tickets), and 413 Ska presents its second Xmas Extravaganza Dec. 6 with Mephiskapheles, PWRUP, Stop the Presses, Futon Lasagna, Backyard Superheroes, Threat Level Burgundy, Llama Tsunami and Jon Berman (tickets).
Infinity Music Hall in Hartford presents Americana group Railroad Earth Jan. 16 (tickets), blues veterans the Robert Cray Band Feb. 24 (tickets) and Jim Messina March 13 (tickets).
College Street Music Hall in New Haven hosts the Wombats Feb. 9 (tickets) and Circle Jerks and Gorilla Biscuits April 7 (tickets).
PONY and Star 99 perform at the Space Ballroom in Hamden Feb. 24 (tickets).
Silversun Pickups play District Music Hall in Norwalk May 8 (tickets).
That’s all for now — thank you for reading! If you like what you’ve seen, please share. Also, I’m always open to submissions. You can send music for coverage consideration to erdanton at gmail or reply to this email. Check out these guidelines first.
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