Pony Club

Post Romantic

Hum

Rating: 4/5

While the newer, younger, pony clubs get on with it, the original Pony Club is back. 'Post Romantic' is achingly and reluctantly grown up, a painfully honest portrayal of thirtysomething miasma from the north Dublin group. There's a tough split at work here too, one with Mark Cullen trying to come to terms with his own maturity, and another berating the very process of aging. 'Anthony' spits at the boho chic heads who "learned to dance on E, but now that's all just a memory" and instead spend their Sundays on Hampstead Heath with the kids. The beautifully despondent 'To Tell The Truth', hears Cullen sing, "I'm still waiting for something magical to happen that will change my life forever." He shouldn't be so hard on himself, as this record reconfirms Cullen as one of the best lyricists of his generation, Irish or otherwise.

Download: 'People Need Others', 'In Your Dreams', 'Anthony'