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Pomegranate (Poi Dog Pondering album)

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Pomegranate
Studio album by
Poi Dog Pondering
Released1995
LabelPomegranate/Bar/None
ProducerFrank Orrall, Martin Stebbing, Poi Dog Pondering
Poi Dog Pondering chronology
Volo Volo
(1992) 		Pomegranate
(1995) 		Electrique Plummagram
(1996)

Pomegranate is an album by the American band Poi Dog Pondering, released in 1995.[1][2] It was first released in a limited edition by the band's label, with a national release by Bar/None Records.[3] The band supported the album with a North American tour.[4] Pomegranate sold more than 40,000 copies in its first six months of release.[5] "Catacombs" was released as a single.[6] An EP, Electrique Plummagram, contained dance remixes of some Pomegranate tracks.[7]

Production

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The album was produced by Frank Orrall, Martin Stebbing, and the band.[8] It was recorded in an empty basketball gym in Chicago over a period of seven months.[3] The band, which raised around $10,000 for the sessions, aimed for a production that would sound good in a dance club.[3] Frontman Orrall used a handheld microphone for many of the songs, recording "Diamonds and Buttermilk" while crawling around the floor.[9] Orrall thought that Pomegranate was a more cohesive album than the band's previous releases.[10] Steve Goulding played drums on Pomegranate.[11] "God's Gallipoli" addresses the leukemic lymphoma of bandmember Brigid Murphy; Orrall, partly in response to criticism of the band's previous albums, tried to write songs about more serious matters.[12][13]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[8]

Trouser Press wrote: "A collection of groovy, danceable numbers propelled by Orrall's dramatic voice and overly poetic lyricism, Pomegranate manages to recapture both the fun-loving spirit and accomplished musicianship that made Poi Dog such a delight at the start."[15] The Austin American-Statesman determined that "what we have is a funk, soul, techno, psychedelic, artsy, hippie, Whole Foods-eating, Zooropa-inspired band with transcendental lyrics and a staggering nine members."[16] CMJ New Music Monthly praised the "Kraftwerk-meets-disco" sound of "Chain".[17]

The Washington Post concluded that, "though impeccably performed and arranged, the resulting sound—frequently folkie, sometimes funky—is seldom anything more than facile."[11] The Chicago Tribune deemed the album "Poi's most infectiously danceable disc, and also its moodiest."[18] Texas Monthly called it "a deep and—believe it or not—dark multigenre piece set amid a bubbling stew of strings, horns, percussion, and odd electro-funk pulsing, plus other weirdly beautiful noises."[19]

AllMusic noted that "they're at their most sublime and inimitable in the pop ballads."[14]

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."Pomegranate" 
2."Catacombs" 
3."Complicated" 
4."The Chain" 
5."Big Constellation" 
6."Sandra at the Beach" 
7."Diamonds and Buttermilk" 
8."Shu Zulu Za" 
9."God's Gallipoli" 
10."The Shake of Big Hands" 
11."Al le Luia" 

References

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  1. ^ Harris, Paul A. (October 26, 1995). "A New Pack of Pois". Get Out. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 24.
  2. ^ DeLuca, Dan (November 3, 1995). "And Then There's...". Features Weekend. The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 15.
  3. ^ a b c McCormick, Moira (October 21, 1995). "Poi Dog Pondering proves fruitful on 'Pomegranate'". Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 42. p. 1.
  4. ^ Kot, Greg (September 15, 1995). "Poi Dog Pondering Moves to Lush Soundscape at the Vic". Chicagoland. Chicago Tribune. p. 12.
  5. ^ Wyman, Bill (March 7, 1996). "Poi Dog Days". Music. Chicago Reader.
  6. ^ Monk, Katherine (December 7, 1995). "Poi Dog left pondering too few fans". Vancouver Sun. p. C10.
  7. ^ Roos, John (September 10, 1996). "Poi Dog Pondering, Unleashed". Los Angeles Times. p. F3.
  8. ^ a b MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1996. p. 528.
  9. ^ Renzhofer, Martin (December 1, 1995). "Poi Dog Pondering Savors Its Tasty New 'Pomegranate'". The Salt Lake Tribune. p. E16.
  10. ^ Harrison, Tom (December 5, 1995). "Different folks, different strokes: Poi Dog, EBN both stimulating". The Province. p. B2.
  11. ^ a b Jenkins, Mark (November 3, 1995). "Poi's 'Pomegranate' needs some juice". The Washington Post. p. WW16.
  12. ^ Ferguson, Jon (March 22, 1996). "Hot horns, dance grooves and other mysteries of life". Happenings. Intelligencer Journal. p. 2.
  13. ^ McDonald, Sam (April 5, 1996). "Pondering the Possibilities". InRoads. Daily Press. Newport News. p. 12.
  14. ^ a b "Pomegranate Review by Tom Schulte". AllMusic. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  15. ^ "Poi Dog Pondering". Trouser Press. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  16. ^ Riemenschneider, Chris (November 2, 1995). "Too many years gone to Ponder". Austin American-Statesman. p. 8.
  17. ^ Dawn, Randee (December 1995). "Reviews". CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 28. p. 17.
  18. ^ Kot, Greg (December 29, 1995). "You Heard It Here First: Top Local Indie Releases". Friday. Chicago Tribune. p. S.
  19. ^ Cohen, Jason (January 1996). "Hot CDs". Texas Monthly. Vol. 24, no. 1. p. 22.
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