The name of this Kansas City-based quintet may intrigue you, but you'll have to be a refugee from the hair-band era to really appreciate what Baloney Ponyz is trying to do in 2003. These dudes embrace sleaze metal in all its manifestations – from the cheap-looking self-titled debut album's cover to song titles like "Cummin' On," "The Earth is Chokin'" and "Cold Cocked" to the Tesla-meets-Great White-by-way-of-The Black Crowes music. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Newer bands like TNA, Pride and 7 Months rely on a retro sound, too, but they back it up with modern-day production and a few contemporary surprises.
Unfortunately, Baloney Ponyz doesn't do that enough. Therefore, this music isn't all that memorable and sounds similar to the countless and faceless bands that appeared on the scene in late-Eighties Los Angeles. Incidentally, that's where Baloney Ponyz lead singer Curtis Anderson went to seek fame and fortune in those heady days. When that failed, he returned to K.C. and eventually formed Baloney Ponyz.
Fast-forward several years and we've got an album that includes a handful of songs – "Sex Junkie," "Get Off ," "Human Nature" and the requisite power ballad "On My Way," among them – that could have been big back in the day. Unfortunately, on this day, the whole thing comes off sounding a bit too forced and contrived. Sorry, boyz.