Pontiak

Living

Thrill Jockey

May 25, 2010 Web Exclusive By J. Pace Bookmark and Share


There's just something about Pontiak. On paper, how invigorating do pentatonic riffing, laidback jamming, fuzz pedals, and nods to early metal sound? It's an age-old formula now, no question, with legions of Clutches, Kyusses, even Orange Goblins terrorizing the countryside with roughly identical takes on stoner rock.

On Living, as on their previous material, Pontiak dole out plenty of those same elements, but transcend their default genre. Maybe it's the raw recordings, captured in the three siblings' Virginia farmhouse. Maybe it's singer Van Carney's haunting croon, recalling record-bin ephemera such as England's High Tide (not to mention a certain Jim Morrison). Maybe it's the sheer variety of content, as the band drift from groove-driven heaviness on "Young" and "This Is Living," to such feedback-laden space jams as "And By Night," or grab the acoustic guitar and organ for some old-fashioned psychedelia on "Beach."

Then again, it may just boil down to editing. It's notable that this features some guest guitar work by Earthless guitarist Isaiah Mitchell. While Mitchell's band is perhaps the epitome of jam-oriented heavy psych, cranking out long-winded shred-jams that essentially go nowhere, Pontiak play the craftsmen, eschewing the self-indulgence, paring things down and proving (again) that even a stagnant genre has somewhere to go. (www.pontiak.net)

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