Signed to the Setanta label, you could be forgiven for thinking that Dublin… Read Full Bio ↴Signed to the Setanta label, you could be forgiven for thinking that Dublin's Mark Cullen is the next Neil Hannon. Pony Club are actually quite a different beast though; Cullen has a similar ear for a great melody but his style is aggressive and confrontational. 'CCTV' is typical - buzzsaw punk guitars and gritty lyrics railing against modern cliches ("I'm watching Hilfiger glamourise violence, in every run down satellite highrise"). With more in common with Babybird, Cullen's barbed lyrics are masked by sweet, contemporary tunes ('Fuck With My Heart', 'Stop', 'Millions Like Us'). He can play the wounded torch singer a la Marc Almond just as well with the self-pitying yet admirable 'Single'. Whereas 'Tenderness', 'Flakey Wife' and 'Happy Families' are simply great sounding songs with chart potential. All of which makes 'Home Truths' a very special fully-formed album, even more so as it's a debut.

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