Apr 6, 2011

Kleenex Girl Wonder - Ponyoak


Kleenex Girl Wonder is this guy named Graham Smith. In the late nineties he put out a lo-fi pop record of home recordings called "Ponyoak." The album is 25 songs with 5 extra bonus tracks. It has that early Guided by Voices short song brilliance, and Smith has a solid ear for melodic hooks. And sure, with 30 songs there are bound to be some stinkers ("Anne Marie" is wretched) but the amount of good to great songs is almost astounding.

I'd recommend listening a few times to let the weird ones sink in, and if you're on the fence at all listen to "Now I Got A Feeling" to jump right in. That song has numerous bridges, a late-song key change, and little to no repetition at all in the verses and choruses. Basically, a really catchy song that takes an absurd amount of listens to get tiresome. The songwriting reminds me of Capstan Shafts, and Pollard, and if you like either I'd suggest giving "Ponyoak" a listen.

DL