REVIEW: Poi Dog Pondering, Natural Thing (Tommy
Boy/Plate.tec.tonic)
- Jon Steltenpohl
Years ago, Poi Dog Pondering emerged as an organic, post Grateful Dead band from Hawaii with joyous chords and a huge band. Despite a number of much talked about albums, Poi Dog never really escaped beyond its initial billing, and became a fan's band supported by a rabid base of followers of their incredible live shows. Fast forward a few years from Hawaii to Austin and eventually to their current home in Chicago. Leader Frank Orrall has kept the band alive without major label support, and has established the band as a solid presence in Chicago to the point of even playing for Dennis Rodman's birthday partying.
1999 finds Poi Dog Pondering at another crossroads imposed on the band by Orrall. Bolstered by a love of the Chicago house music scene, the band covered Ten City's dance classic "That's the Way Love Is" last year, and Orrall began transitioning from a rootsy sound to one with a definite beat. The exciting release of Natural Thing is a culmination of the new slant. It is, without a doubt, a dance inspired album. But it is also still very much a raw, uncut, musical experience.
Orrall seems genuinely averse to samples and drum machines, and Natural Thing seems to refer more to his style of music rather than just the title of track 3. Sure, there's a little bit of studio work going on here, but for the most part, this is dance and R&B music made with real instruments and voices. There's some synthesizers here for atmosphere, but the bass is real. So are the flutes and the strings and the bongos.
Orrall takes the energy that makes a great dance piece and runs it through a group real live musicians. The results are invigorating. Tracks like "Diva (Live at the House of Sound)" and "Spend My Life" bounce and flit around like the best jazzy ambient dance you've heard. But it's real stuff. It has feeling and emotion and depth that most music made with a bunch of electronics rarely has. Songs like "Hard Sometimes" are jazzy, upbeat dance numbers, and there's even a Digable Planets style cool rap called "Berry".
Of course, the danger in pursuing such a musical vision is the risk of alienating both audiences. This is certainly possible. Orrall risks not pounding out a driving beat for the dance fans or not being eclectic enough for the classic Poi Dog fans. The cover of "That's the Way Love Is" shows the best and worst of the new sound. The vocals and the groove are raw and soulful, but, assessed in a cynical light, it kind of sounds like a bad impression of George Michael sitting in with Erasure on an MTV unplugged session.
The final verdict is that, if you're only into dance or only into organic rock, you'll probably be turned off by Natural Thing's fusion of the two sounds. On the other hand, if you can't seem to get enough of new and interesting sounds, Poi Dog Pondering has created an exciting, eclectic album. There's nothing here that isn't borrowed from some other source, but the energy behind it is infectious. Poi Dog Pondering always had a definable groove bubbling underneath the surface, and Frank Orrall has finally decided to bring it to the forefront. Natural Thing is an album that may ostracize some fans, but will certainly win a whole new set who love a groove no matter how it's played.
