Ponytail

After a minor hit with Ice Cream Spiritual and totally not breaking up (promise), Baltimore, MD quartet Ponytail return with Do Whatever You Want All The Time, festooning it with all the trappings of a major hit. Secretly one of the best working groups that haven't abandoned guitars for MacBooks, Ponytail have taken their barely contained enthusiasm and creativity and spread them out over longer periods of time. Reckless spurts have been replaced by lengthier movements that breathe, but deny the "blue period" doldrums entirely. They're not spread too thin because there's just so much going on. This necessitates the caging of vocalist Molly Siegel, her characteristic yelping back flips sharing the limelight with the tremendous input of her bandmates. "Honey Touches" is a shocker and a stand out, but the longer pieces and overall short runtime of the record necessitate an album-length listen. For that matter, it's a good thing Ponytail aren't breaking up. After a release of this quality, I'm not sure they're allowed.