By Juan Zambrano
Back to School Special, the new single by Phono Pony, is a raw, punk edged rocker, which ponders how far someone would go for their friends.
The track instantly grabs the listener’s attention with its fast tempo, visceral guitars and blistering drums. These three elements are at the centre of the song’s manic energy, which only intensifies as it progresses.
There is a simple message underneath the frenzy of Back to School Special. At its core, the song asks the listener how far they would go for their friends. Fitting for a song titled Back to School Special. Like the song’s sonic landscape, however, this simple question is taken to its logical extreme and occasionally beyond.
The questions start out standard enough with the first verse. “Would you try the drugs? Could you shrug it off? Could you make the time?” Things begin to escalate as the verse concludes and the chorus comes in (a simple chant of the line “for your friends.”)
The second verse is where things get crazy, as the friendship pushing scenarios progressively turn surreal in scope. From self-sacrifice to starting a cult, Phono Pony are covering all their bases in ensuring the listener’s loyalty to their friends.
What makes all this insanity work is how seriously Back to School Special takes itself. This can be heard in the vocal performance. Spoken or screamed more than they are sung, each lyric is nonetheless delivered in the straightest possible way. Combine this with sporadic, piercing screams and frenzied instrumentation and the result is basically a modern-day School’s Out. This is one back to school special students won’t soon forget and for all the right reasons.
Back to School Special was written and recorded in collaboration between Phono Pony and producer Steve Bays. Bays also lent his vocal talents to the song, while Phono Pony vocalist Michael Kenyon cameos. Kenyon also provides guitar, while fellow Phono Pony, Shay Hayashi thrashes behind the drum kit. The garage-glam duo describes Back to School Special as, “a capsule of time and mind-set that could not be more terrifying and satisfying.” A perfect summation of this enjoyably wild ride.
