Motopony - Welcome You

My first impression of Motopony's new album, Welcome You, was, "Aha, this is that psych-rock stuff I've heard so much about." Just look at that album cover. But as I let the music seep into my brain more and more, the idiosyncracies and personalities of the individual songs became more evident, and I realized the band was significantly better than I initially thought, when I was prepared to blow them off as just another trend chaser. To be sure, there's plenty of psych influence going on here, but there's also some blues and indie sensibilities thrown into the mix, creating a fun set that just keeps growing on me.

To be clear, the band makes no secret of the fact they're pining for a simpler time. Hell, they've got a song titled "1971", where lead singer Daniel Blue wails "Life in 1971, I wanna be there, I wanna have fun." Yeah, we get it. But they don't stop there, following that up with "Gypsy Woman", a track just oozing southern-fried rock, which is funny, considering the band is based in Tacoma.

The album opens with the quirky title track, something of an introduction that goes through some rather convoluted wordplay on the concept of welcoming you to the process of your being welcomed. It's like going into a cave and getting lost, them coming out somewhere entirely different where you can see the spot you entered.

That's followed by the mellow guitar work of "Daylights Gone", a smooth rocker with a hook-filled chorus that I cannot stop singing. This might be the best song on the album, although plenty of the others are solid too. "Changing" slides more towards the psych side of things, with some swirling guitars opening the track. Blue manages to really go for it with his vocals on this one.

"Livin' in the Fire" is where the rich psych organs come into play, for a rollicking headbobber of a tune fronted by Blue, who does a great Matt Bellamy impersonation as he moans across the music. The guitar work here is also pretty spectacular, warbling, echoing, and smoking as it does.

"Bridge of Clubs" and "Slo-mo Hoverbike Highway Escape from Newspade City", a pair of ponderous psych rock instrumentals, are pretty forgettable, but thankfully only clock in at three minutes combined, so they don't overstay.

"Molly" is a pretty upbeat tune with some fun flourishes, while "Easy Come, Easy Go" is a slow-burner. "Where It Goes"? Well, where it goes is to the opium dens of the far east, with a sitar front and center. And that's where the album ends, in a faraway place that seems awfully familiar.

The best songs on this set are fantastic, but there are enough less exciting tunes to keep it from achieving perfection. Still, this is overall very solid, and should be a huge crowd pleaser thanks to the pop sensibilities found on some of the more energetic songs.