Maker Press is Here:
Pitchfork - 7.9/10 "... one of the most ambitious and iconoclastic rock records of the year ... And that's the real charm of Maker. Even when Pontiak are demolishing, abbreviating, or stretching structures, they maintain an allegiance to song. "Heat Pleasure" might be 94 seconds of cymbal splatter and feedback rolling into one wide wave, but it adheres with direction and purpose. ... Pontiak, then, find ways to satisfy both castes-- the musical purists and progressives-- even as they play songs that seem designed for one or the other."
Xlr8tr (8/10), "Maker jumps confidently between retro-psych (à la Dead Meadow) and sledgehammer riffage (à la Shellac); there are moments of piercing dissonance (“Wax Worship,” “Headless Conference”) and stoner-rock bliss (the epic 13-minute title track). And throughout it all, the Carney boys never back off from the pummeling intensity afforded by these intimate live recordings. Pontiak cuts to the quick."
Tiny Mix Tapes: "Although Pontiak’s music carries a rural, rustic vibe, Maker’s stylistic range is impressively broad, blending disparate elements into a rather cohesive whole. “Aestival” recalls late-period Earth (at their fastest), with its ringing chords, consistent ride cymbal ping, and narcotic haze. ... Indeed, Pontiak display a great amount of restraint and maturity on Maker, but they’re most successful and exciting when combining their more avant-garde tendencies with their love of classic southern rock, as heard in the multiple segments of album standout “Wax Worship.”
Wired Magazine:, "It's beyond refreshing to hear guitars unfurl and growl the way do in Pontiak's perfect soundscaping. The digital age has birthed too many wankers, but this Virginia-based riff pusher is having none of it, even though the band usually records mostly live and in one or two takes. Led by Van, Jennings and Lain Carney, three brothers from the Blue Ridge Mountains, Pontiak delivers powerful anthems that worm their way into your lobes and lay beautiful, noisy eggs."
Brainwashed, "The disc’s title track pretty much encapsulates the entire album’s ethos into a single 13 minute track, getting in bass heavy sludge, dissonant guitar noise, jazzy improvisation, and pure stoner rock all together in a way that makes sense. ... For a young band, Pontiak definitely has their proverbial shit together when it comes to sound and style."
Mojo (4/5) "...delivers nuanced amplifier worship in excelsis."
Rocka Rolla, "A glorious record, with a deeply warm and almighty delivery."
Wire (UK) "Pontiak's organic approach comes as a breath of fresh air. ... An elongated power surge."
Other Music, "Pontiak’s ominous, primal sound is captured in Maker with raw mostly-live takes and impressive ingenuity. The three farm-raised Carney brothers (Van, Jennings, and Lain) have an intuitive, communal way of playing together, creating a dark, growling, psychedelic sound that is eerily inforced by choral vocals and the droning, dwindling hum of intentionally dying amps."
StrangeGlue (8/10), "Maker stomps about like some kind of heaving beast that your eyes can’t quite get a fix on. There is a quivering in the air, a heat haze. You could call Pontiak a defiant band, drawing a line in the sand for anyone who travelled across the desert with the amiable vibrations of Sun on Sun, their previous full length. Maker makes an ascent into the hills and forests beyond that line, into mountainous terrain."
Subba Cultcha (4.5 Headphones), "Comparisons don’t come easy, but if you remember the expansive, psychedelic stylings of post-grunge troupe Truly, cross breed them with the last couple of Bad Seeds albums and the heavy, droning dirge of the God Machine. That should put you somewhere in the ball park. ... Heavy without being metal, experimental without falling to bits and original without being inaccessible, this is a special band, perhaps in part due to the fact that it is composed of three brothers and therefore a great deal of jamming time has been possible. It’s still growing on me, but I know “Maker” isn’t going to be freed from my CD drive for a while yet."
Onda Rock (7.5/10) -- translated -- , "Never repetitive, the album offers many faces, as in "aestival" the group marries the dark side of Nick Cave and the poetry of Bill Callahan putting in the delicate acoustic ballad sounds ecstatic and furious that seem to leave the pages of rock Pink Floyd. ... All that "Sun On Sun" promised is translated into reality in this excellent new chapter of one of the best American band in recent years.">
Blurt Magazine, "... it's clear that Pontiak diverge from their psych-rock contemporaries in their ability to drape volume-dealing trippiness atop tightly wound aggression. Classic rock bangs up against free-noise chaos, homespun folkiness is rendered hostile by maxed-out reverb and fuzz, and, by teh [sic] time the epic title track closes out the disc, a thorough brain-scrubbing has been delivered alongside a brutal ass-whupping."
Citizen Dick, "After listening to Pontiak’s third Thrill Jockey release, Maker, for the fourth time through, one thing is abundantly clear; this is not tea sipping music. ... Many tracks on the record were recorded in one, live take, and this all inclusive style is kicking me hard where it counts right now."
Creative Loafing Atlanta (4 Stars), "The stuttering "Laywayed," the noisy bursts of "Heat Pleasure," and the hyper-manic clusters of guitar and drums in "Headless Conference" come together like pop fodder fitted with deep, dark grooves and warrior crooning."
Buy Pontiak Albums Maker, Sun on Sun and Kale here
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