It isn't clear what Kansas City's High Diving Ponies mean when they call their music "danger pop," but it's safe to say the seven-piece band is successful in producing controlled chaos. Simple lyrics with droning cello and noisy banjo might not equate to everyone's indie-rock cup o' tea, but when swirled together with angular, Guided By Voices-like bass lines and guitar distortion, it's all a pleasant plunge in the band's warm pool. High Diving Ponies wait until the seventh track, "Easy," to fully submerge listeners (It's easy to get lost in it/the water feels like acid gets/it's easy not to fall asleep) and then push them back out into reality on the last track, "Waiting to Die" (I've been told it goes deep/if you do it every day/you can really learn to feel like you're owned by something you can't see). At a perfectly portioned 24 minutes and 48 seconds, Casino Economy is local shoegaze at its finest.
