Fantastic Playroom by New Young Pony Club is a dance party album.  Nothing more.  Seriously, there is nothing more to it.  This album will indeed get people moving and the music itself is catchy and energetic, but there is no real depth to the songs and the lyrics go from borderline silly to downright laughable.  There really isn’t much more necessary to get an accurate overview other than that, to be honest – this record is a one trick pony.  Catchy dance music, no depth, terrible lyrics.  Full review, tourdates and MP3 samples after the jump. 

The album kicks off with Get Lucky, a track which absolutely sets the tone for this album – it’s light, it’s supposed to get you moving, and it is not deeper than exactly what you hear on the first pass.  This continues with Hiding on the Staircase, a song which is a better dance track with a better groove than Get Lucky, and a little more interesting in their backing sound mix, but ultimately not too far off what Get Lucky establishes.  (Can you see the trend?  Even the “different” songs are pretty much the same.)

Allow me to re-emphasize, if I can, that this band focuses on the feel of the song and the groove that it carries, top to bottom, while seemingly ignoring all else.  The lyrics on much of this album borderline on completely absurd, and this flaw is nowhere as apparent as it is on Ice Cream.  Observe: “Let me give you what you’d like/I can make your mouth run dry/treat me like a lake every morning dip your dipper show me what you’re here for, guy.”  Any guesses as to what the “Ice Cream” is that she can give you what you want?  Didn’t think so; nobody wonders about the meaning of these lyrics.  At any rate, the lyrics are still no worse than Lenny Kravitz’s Fly Away, I suppose, but still not good.

Things get a little bit more on track with The Bomb, a song about – you guessed it – someone who is “da bomb.”  BUT, this one has a pretty cool bassline that really does get you grooving pretty well and the vocals are some of the best on the album, if still not the deepest.  The Lyrical issues I have with this album really come to a head *ahem* on the song Jerk Me.  Another song that grooves right along in a nice way, but sheesh: “I know what you want from me/I know what you’re giving out/no romantic pedigree/suck me in and spit me out,” with the song ending with her repeatedly saying “Jerk me, jerk me off!”

I could go on for days about the stupidity of the lyrics of this record, because they are terrible, they really are.  But the music is pretty enjoyable - it’s a strange conflict.  On The Get Go, they remind me of a 90s silly dance rock track, but I do like this song.  It chills out a little more on Talking Talking while they add in some way retro synthesizers and build this track in an interesting way with more layers than they usually display on the other songs.  The back 1/3 of the album is probably the weakest overall, with the repetitive and way too ultra simple Grey, the repetitive and way too ultra simple Fan, but then on the album’s closing track, Tight Fit, they do their best Madonna impression, only this song is far less irritating to me than any Madonna I have ever heard.  But, I’m not Madonna’s biggest fan, Alex Rodriguez.

I know I knock their lyrics pretty hard in this review, but the bottom line is if you are throwing a party – ideally themed as an Awesome 80s Dance Party, you could throw in this album once everyone has had a few drinks and people will dance.  When I think of special albums influenced in a roundabout way from the same era of music, I think of LCD Sound System, a band which does everything right on Sound of Silver, along with adding their own very unique spin and layering all kinds of elements - blowing the tiny listener’s minds away.  On Fantastic Playground, New Young Pony Club simply rehashes old music while keeping it feeling old and worn out, but they can still get people up and dancing.

Daigle Rate: 68

New Young Pony Club - The Get Go - Fantastic Playroom
New Young Pony Club - Talking Talking - Fanstatic Playroom

Upcoming tourdates, if relevant at all to you:

June 23 – Vienna – The Banana Club
July 13 – Shrewsbury – Indieco Sunday Social Festival
August 3 – Byron Bay – Splendour In The Grass
August 5 – Melbourne – Prince of Wales
August 6 – Sydney – Home
August 9 – Japan – Summersonic Festival
August 16 – Brighton – Loop Festival
August 29 – Ireland – Electric Picnic