“Ponk: Postfolklor (CD)
First time I heard about this Moravian band was at Womex this year. I was listening to the official CD of Womex and I was making notes about the bands I liked. I fell in love with Ponk’s music because of one specific song. The song „Sibenicky” unexpectedly starts with the cimbalom then violin and double bass. They play music with folklor roots but they present it as for example Góbé- uptodate, pure, fresh and youthful music. After the first impression it was only the matter of time when I will finally listen to the band’s own CD. This is a quality and uniqe music therefore it is really a big mystery for me why they couldn’t find a single creative record company to release their CD. Recently I was writing about Ukranian folkore songs and some of their sad lyrics but those lyrics are cheerful compare to Ponk’s lyrics. Basically the Posfolklor album doesn’t contain any joyful song. In each songs somebody dies or some other terribe things happen. This was probably a conscious decision of the band, it is unusual but it establishes the style of the album. Athough the lyrics of the songs are about the same topic, the trio gave colour to the album and the musical scoring is fantastic. Some times the cimbalom sounds like piano (thanks to Eduard Tomaštík) the doublebass reminds of drums (thanks to Jakub Nožička) and Michal Krystýnek’s voice perfectly fits to their music. As a result of the trick they often use, the folklor turns into rock, jazz, blues or other kinds of music. Furthermore, it is another advantage that all 3 of them sing and sometimes I felt that they could play some of their songs even on electric instruments,- it would still work and be enjoyable. It is completely understanable that they use a new name for their music: postfolklor. I have seen it couple of times that new, ambitious bands are creating a new name for their style however for Ponk it is completely reasonable because what they do is so original. They do what they need to do and I hope that they will continue this musical experiment and release a new album. Recommendation: Interesting new version of folklore music,modern sound mixed with other style of music therefore it can be an ideal choice for everyone who likes Czech/ Slavic foklore or a fan of Góbé.”