With all due deference to last year's winner, the Death Set--and Dan Deacon--there isn't a live band in town spilling over with more infectious energy than Ponytail. Playing the giddy no-wave/math-rock of Deerhoof or OOIOO with the amped-up abandon of a high-school garage band, Ponytail thrashes with a complexity that feels ebullient rather than tight-assed. But it's singer Molly Siegel, the screeching and cooing Thumbelina who sounds like Ari Up imitating Elmo and Cookie Monster, that makes Ponytail something really special. Best of all, the band's new material, which it's currently road-testing live for a possible 2008 release, finds it exploring even more ornate shapes for its neon-colored prog-punk without sacrificing an ounce of its speed-freak bounce.

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