Pontiak
Sun On Sun

"The past answers present"

Besides being the title of a Rumore column, it could also be an excellent label to describe a large portion of the current music market. Drawing more or less calligraphically from your favorite bands, or even just certain sounds, is now a well-established practice. I can't say if the golden vein from which the so-called rock drew for 40 years is over, but I sincerely hope not; the fact remains that it's hard to find sounds and forms other than the many easily accessible sources. The only discriminating factor, for those like me who buy and download derivative music (oh yes guys, the important thing is to admit it), is how much the mix of sources + current inspiration manages to create a credible whole and not a slavish copy.

The Pontiak (a bearded trio from Virginia) remind us a bit of everything and everyone, from the acid post blues of Dead Meadow, to Fugazi-esque post hardcore, to post rock and all the way to the iconic legends, Doors and Sabbath above all. Yet they manage to be credible, sincere, and badass. Label (and tour) mates with one of last year's best bands, Arbouretum, they also share the emotional content of the music: lyrical and spiritual are the Arbouretum, while Pontiak are darker and more varied.

Hard to categorize, tossed between accelerating urges and sudden slow-downs, almost post-rock in the typical explosive restraint ("Shell Skull"), almost metal and dissonant in "White Hands", blatantly Doors-influenced in the beautiful "Tell Me About". And they also throw in two midway tracks in the album that are worth the purchase: the title track borrows the intro of Sabbath's "War Pigs", stretching and slowing it down, until it transforms into a serene ballad for organ and guitar that slowly rises on the notes of an ultra-effected slide; "White Mice" starts as a hypnotic march in the desert, slow rolling of tumbleweeds, until it stumbles and falls, turning into a jazz-scented mantra. One of the most beautiful tracks heard this year.

As usual, the judgment on albums and bands of this type is purely personal, it can vary from the minimum to the maximum depending on the cases. Since at Christmas everyone is kinder and more undecided, and since my boss is a former DC, I lean towards an even-handed and play-it-safe 3/5.