Real Ponchos (Independent)

The name of the band might bring Frank Zappa to mind—it references a line from “Camarillo Brillo”—but the music of the Real Ponchos owes a lot more to country-fried Grateful Dead than the Mothers of Invention. Their debut EP offers introspective, irony-free roots music, with twangy, distinctive vocals and Jerry Garcia–like leads from Ben Arsenault, and vintage Asylum Records-style vocal sincerity from rhythm guitarist Emile Scott. The two trade off singing, depending on who wrote the songs; both are gifted tunesmiths. Track 4, “Downcountry”—the disc’s high point—manages to be bouncy and moody at the same time, in the spirit of Crazy Horse (the band), while the harmonica on “Can’t Win ’Em All” sounds pleasingly like a crowing rooster, or maybe a distant train, either of which fits the song perfectly. The perfect band for a great night at the Railway (I speak from experience).