PONY DA LOOK PLAY SNEAKY DEE’S (431 COLLEGE) MAY 8.
Pony Da Look once famously described themselves as “four gargoyles spewing juices from their throats,” which certainly does the job better than “lo-fi synth-pop.” Yes, the quartet build their songs out of military-parade drumbeats and Casio keyboards, but crassness is rarely so ornate. Let the operatic vocals, which channel the melodrama of 1800s Gothic through the witchy warble of ’80s goth, be your ley lines — these four know exactly how ridiculous they appear, and they embrace it. Pop music abides contrivances as long as you can dance to them. When “Avalon” casts leading lady Amy Bowles as a roboticized Kate Bush over some beat that sounds like the boss music from Sonic Spinball or “Flatlands” magnifies a Saskatchewan love affair into horror (and flayed synth chords) worthy of John Carpenter, that freakish randomness is what gives PDL’s music a power beyond mere catchiness. The grotesque has always been a route to extraordinary experiences.