Over the course of the rest of the record there are punky-bluegrassy sounds, dirgy guitars, wide-eyed pastoral folkiness... it's all great. There isn't anything close to a bad song on the disc.

It's easily the best Ass Ponys album, one of a handful of great albums from '01 and an instant entry into my personal Top 20.

It took a deacde and a half, but the Pony's finally built their masterpiece!


their best yet   April 20, 2004
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

If you purchase only one Ass Ponys record, make it this one. Chuck Cleaver's much-mellowed vocals and excellent writing should win some new fans while still pleasing the die-hards. Expertly played and beautifully recorded, Lohio paints a more cohesive picture than previous releases. From start to finish, it utilizes the rural midwestern landscape as a backdrop for its carefully crafted vignettes. From first snow to late summer longing, the focus glides from one memory to the next until they start to feel remarkably like your own.

More urbane critics like to describe (read: dismiss) the subject matter as "quirky", "dark", "wacky"...i.e. too fantastic, too homespun, too whatever... But maybe I should cut them some slack... Maybe they never grew up in the middle of nowhere, and so Cleaver's personal recollections probably do sound more like fairy tales.

But I don't know... Sweetness, regret, morphine, Jesus. Sounds like a typical day to me. Told with just the right amount of sincerity and humor by four guys who get the joke.


a fantastic recording from a fantastic band   July 31, 2001
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This is a brilliant album filled with melodic songs, rich lyrics, and wonderful performances. The songs are catchy (dare I even say hummable), yet they have depth and complexity created by the band's brilliant instrumental performances. Chuck Cleaver's lyrics investigate a variety of distinctly odd American characters and situations. One of the finest recordings I've heard in some time... highly recommended!


Best of 2001   August 15, 2001
Daniel L. Beck (Saint Paul, MN United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

If you like Americana, this is the best it gets. I have been a fan of these guys from Ohio for years and this album is their best album. Every song is a winner. Sick of corporate muscic? Get the real thing and buy this CD. My hat is off to the Ass Ponys. Great album.....great album.


Depression never sounded so good.   June 8, 2003
M. Casarino (Wilmington, DE United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

What a wonderful album. The Ass Ponys prove once again that while they aren't afraid of the dark, they don't mind a little sunlight too. "Lohio" burns with lazy summer-day regret, as song after song peels away another layer of depression - the alone-on-Friday-night malaise of "Kung Fu Reference," the aching nostalgia of "Dried Up" and "Calendar Days," the sad sad descent into hospice morphine addiction of "I Love You." But the Ponys tackle their subjects with clear-eyed honesty and humor, and song after song comes alive with exuberance and poignancy.

It sounds great, too. The Ponys write with incredible economy (their favorite progression is I-IV), which allows them to have all kinds of fun with goofy arrangements and offbeat instrumentation. They haven't forgotten how to rock hard, either - check out "Last Night it Snowed," the song Wilco has been trying to write for years. But it's their tender and wise take on depression that keeps me coming back to "Lohio." When you're having one of those days where you wake up and just know nothing's going to happen, play the Ass Ponys. It's good to know they're out there, and they're on your side.