Driftless Pony Club is an indie rock band formed in 2004 by Craig Benzine, more commonly known as Wheezy Waiter. Other members of the band include Matt Weber, Sam Grant, and Nate Bartley. The band was largely inspired by other indie bands, like The Pixies, Built to Spill, Weezer, and, most noticeably, Modest Mouse.
In addition to their songs, they're also known for their strange, creative, and almost completely irrelevant (to the subject matter) music videos. For example, their music video for "Inspectors of Inspectors"
is about the band getting swallowed by a whale beforehand, sending a message in a bottle to sailor versions of themselves, and sailor!Band rowing their car, while driving their car around the city, looking for the whale, which is flying. What.
As of 2020, they have made 6 albums:
- Janel (2004)
- Cholera (2006)
- Expert (2009)
- Buckminster (2011)
- Magnicifent (2012), and
- Zastera (2016).
They have a blog/website, facebook page, youtube account, and twitter.
Driftless Pony Club contains examples of...
- Air Guitar: A variation. After Nate throws his drums out of the whale so they can be saved, he still sits on the bench, miming drumming, before throwing out his sticks and stool.
- Animated Music Video: The music video for "House of 1982".
- Anthropomorphic Personification: "Thanks, Earthquake" seems to be one about, well, Earthquakes. And some other stuff.
- Bittersweet Ending: The "Legends of Archery" music video. Yes, Sam violently kills the other band members, and yes, they each left behind a child. However, Sam does raise them to reform the band, and they all do seem happy.
- Careful with That Axe: The ending of "Let's Do This Here".
- Disproportionate Retribution: The band kicks Sam out for not being a good bassist. So what does he do? Become a ninja and violently murder them all in front of each-other's eyes!
- Eaten Alive: The main theme of the "Inspectors of Inspectors" music video. They all seem pretty cool, if not mildly irritated about it.
- Fading Into The Nextsong: They have a lot of albums with only a gap or two between songs.
- Fingore: Matt gets both his hands cut of by ninja!Sam Grant.
- Flying Seafood Special. The flying whale in the "Inspectors of Inspectors" music video.
- Gratuitous Ninja: Sam Grant (the bassist) becomes a ninja in the "Legends of Archery" music video.
- Instrumental Weapon: Attempted by Craig in the "Legends of Archery" music video, where he uses his guitar as a sword. It works surprisingly good for a while. It doesn't go over so well in the end where he gets killed, though.
- Lyrical Dissonance: A few instances.
- "Imaginary Blood" is a rather cheery for a song about losing your arm to gangrene.
- "City You Know" is a peppy song about the deterioration of your city as well as your life.
- "All Quiet" is a very energetic, happy love song. It's (presumably) about a stoner who gets in a fiery car crash with his girlfriend during a snowstorm. Subverted later, when the song adapts a slower, sadder tune.
- "They Built the Future" is the happiest song you'll ever hear about being stuck "six whole years in quarantine".
- Mind Screw: Their lyrics can get quite surreal, and their music videos can be even more weird.
- Mood Whiplash: "18 Years Later" is a rather solemn song about a man losing his sister in the war, and then being sent out himself, presumably never coming back. What are the first lines of the next song ("All Quiet")? "Screw you North Dakota!"
- Oddly enough, this happens with "All Quiet" too. After the fittingly somber ending, it's followed by the two peppiest songs on the album, "They Built the Future," although Lyrical Dissonance is in play, and "Bedrolls Across America".
- Nobody Loves the Bassist: Sam gets it pretty hard in the "Legends of Archery" music video.
- Noodle Incident: If sailor!Craig's note is anything to go by, DPC has been stuck in a whale more than once.
- Performance Video: Their music videos for "Legends of Archery" and "Inspectors of Inspectors". Played with, since in "Inspectors of Inspectors," they only mime playing the song on cardboard instruments for the majority of the song, and in "Legends of Archery", only Craig plays the guitar. While using it as a sword.
- The Power of Rock: How sailor!DPC kills the whale.
- The Silent Bob: Nate.
- Surreal Music Video: Their "House of 1982" music video. It has aliens fighting zombie dinosaurs.
- To a lesser degree, "Inspectors of Inspectors." Most of it is a Performance Video, but with cardboard instruments, and inside a whale. The other part deals with sailor!DPC, and them rowing/driving their car to hunt the sky whale.
- Title Drop: Many in the songs, of course, most prominently in the album "Magnicifent", where every song has a title drop, besides "Yr Mnhtn".
- The Unpronounceable: "Yr Mnhtn" from "Magnicifent".
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: During the "Legends of Archery" music video, where Craig throws up at the sight of his fellow band-mates being murdered.
