Pony Up — Stay Gold

Pony Up exist in a vacuum where the '90s alternative revolution never ended: Juliana Hatfield remains a Top 40 superstar, That Dog are rock gods and Liz Phair never made a record with Britney Spears collaborators The Matrix.

After cultivating a relationship with Ben Lee and releasing an EP and a full-length LP on Steve Aoki's Dim Mak label, the Montreal quartet have now ventured out on their own and have dropped Stay Gold completely independently in a beautiful hand-made sleeve. Pony Up's records always capture a time and place in the group's evolution, and Stay Gold finds them in full bloom.

Lisa Smith and Laura Wills' stint touring in The Dears seems to have emboldened the group to take their indie pop sound and carve out their own little niche. If there's any justice in the musical cosmos, this record will break the band to a wider audience.