Pit Pony - Dead Stars (2025) Hi-Res

Following up a debut album must arguably be one of the biggest leaps a band has to make. Perhaps there is more freedom to the creativity, perhaps there is a shift in the themes and inspirations due to experience, or perhaps band members have changed thus leading to a tweak in sound or song creation. Or, as was the case for Newcastle’s Pit Pony, there is the opportunity to have more time to write and record. The 5-piece follow up 2022’s World To Me with Dead Stars, set for release on 7 February via Clue Records and EMI North.

Opener ‘At Dawn’ is a nod to vocalist Jackie Purver’s favourite film ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ in which Plato (Sal Mineo) asks Jim (James Dean) whether he thinks the world will end at nighttime and he responds “Nuh uh, at dawn“. It’s a track wide in scope reflecting its cinematic influence. It opens with the scuzzy guitars of Pit Pony but about a third in there is a quiet section dominated by just the vocals which hint at a folk origin before the power lifts again. The outro is given a full minute to fade out, the guitar riff allowed the space to breath. Previous single‘Well Well’ is an out and out banger. The energy is maintained throughout, its heartbeat the drums of Joey Morley thundering along at pace while the guitars provide the backbone with their twangy, echoey, edgy vibe.