The Alternate Root - Review of "Things That Used To Shine"

You could always tell that Telisha Williams woman was trouble. Sure, she comes off all sweet with that sunshine smile. When she and hubby, Doug, walked the boards as a duo there were clues. Maybe it is the anonymity of the band but Telisha has come out of her lace and leather closet and taken on the role of the seductress for the husband and wife teams new incarnation as Wild Ponies. There is no hesitation on Things That Used to Shine. Track number one and Telisha has her dominatrix drag on for “Make You Mine”. The tune sets the stage but all you can hear is Telisha’s siren call pulling you in, and down, down, down.

Telisha Williams is the doe-eyed innocent when she claims “I swear the gun went off before I even pulled the trigger” as explanation for the man lying bleeding on the floor and comes off as the victim when she ignores that warning label on the fella heading her way in “Trouble Looks Good on You”, co-written by Doug and Telisha with Amy Speace. The remaining tracks all come from the pen of the Williams family. While Telisha is coaxing, teasing, taunting and clocking all comers, Doug supports her words with harmony. Though his vocals work perfectly, it is the guitar that is a weapon in the hands of Doug Williams. He finger picks a beautiful melody to introduce “Iris”, lets the space in between the notes be as powerful as the sounds on “Want to be Gone” and bends the electric reverb to echo and watches it pace the floor as he takes the vocals on “Revival Wasteland”. Wild Ponies expands on the power of two, especially when the whole is a sum of its equal parts, and when those parts are Doug and Telisha Williams. The title track walks the midway over traditional sounds, hand over a classic country greeting card on “Valentine’s Day” and strut proudly as they walk towards the confessional wall on “The Truth Is”. 

     -  By Danny / The Alternate Root