“If you’re horny, let’s do it”: Slothrust Deliver Seductive Slow Thrusts in Hot n’ Sweaty “Pony” Cover

Slothrust stay true to themselves on their irresistible heavy rendition of Ginuwine’s classic “Pony,” delivering a hot n’ sweaty cover that hits hard and aches in all the right places.

Stream: “Pony” – Slothrust

If you’re horny, let’s do it, ride it, my pony. My saddle’s waitin’, come and jump on it…

Boston’s Slothrust have always sent chills up and down our spine, but no one could have predicted this sweltering seduction. The lead single and opening track to their latest EP is a tantalizing fever dream: Heavy drums churn a slow and thunderous beat as fiery guitars rage and roar around one of the most famous bass lines in R&B history. The scene is electric, the air thick with tension as Leah Wellbaum sings the familiar words, “I’m just a bachelor, I’m looking for a partner – someone who knows how to ride without even falling off…”

And off they go.

Slothrust stay true to themselves on their irresistible rendition of Ginuwine’s classic “Pony,” delivering a hot n’ sweaty cover that hits hard and aches in all the right places.

I’m just a bachelor
I’m looking for a partner
Someone who knows how to ride
Without even falling off

Gotta be compatible takes me to my limits
Girl when I break you off
I promise that you won’t wanna get off

An instant standout off Slothrust’s (pronounced “sloth-rust”) recently released EP I Promise, “Pony” is provocative, evocative, and utterly all-consuming: A cover for the ages. The Boston band comprised of Leah Wellbaum (vocals, guitar) and Will Gorin (drums) are no strangers to the covers game: Their 2017 covers album Show Me How You Want It to Be played host to seven songs spread across the musical spectrum, including Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together,” Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time,” and an intoxicating interpretation of Marcy Playground’s “Sex and Candy.”

Atwood Magazine’s Alex Killian called it an adventure of music through Slothrust’s lens: “Slothrust do an incredible job of keeping the general sound and emotion of each original song in tact on the EP. Their particular sound and melancholy personality still comes through clearly, without ever sounding forced.”

Our goal in covering songs is always to recontextualize them and offer them with a contrasting spirit to the original.

And yet, it’s been a few years since Slothrust gave their spin to someone else’s songwriting; the intervening years have seen them dazzling through studio albums The Pact (2018) and Parallel Timeline (2021), the latter of which Atwood Magazine‘s Dimitra Gurduiala called “a mysterious, hypnotic record about spirituality and desire for freedom.”

“Pony” is a delightful surprise – one that makes our hair stand on end and sends shivers down the spine as Slothrust channel Ginuwine’s lyrics and melodies through a “maximalist hard rock” wash and a queer lens, complete with scorching guitar and drum solos. The bones remain the same: You can sing along on your first listen, getting lost in the euphoria and ecstasy of this rapturous reverie.

If you’re horny, let’s do it, ride it, my pony
My saddle’s waitin’, come and jump on it
If you’re horny, let’s do it, ride it, my pony
My saddle’s waitin’, come and jump on it

For Wellbaum and Gorin, covering this song was a no-brainer. “We grew up listening to a lot of ’90s R&B, and this track was always one of our favorites,” they share. “It’s so bold and fully commits to the metaphor while keeping it consensually kinky. We love this level of commitment and wanted to match it.”

We asked ourselves the question, how heavy and flashy can we make this track without losing the pocket?

Sitting here flossing
Peeping your steelo
Just once if I have the chance
The things I would do to you
You and your body, every single portion
Send chills up and down your spine
Juices flowing down your thigh

If you’re horny, let’s do it, ride it, my pony
My saddle’s waitin’, come and jump on it
If you’re horny, let’s do it, ride it, my pony
My saddle’s waitin’, come and jump on it

Atwood Magazine caught up with Slothrust to hear all about how they got back in the saddle and brought this “Pony” to life. Get lost in the sweet seduction of this arousing cover, and listen to Slothrust’s brand new EP, I Promise – featuring four (that’s right, four!) different versions of “Pony,” a double-bass heavy cover of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and two equally breathtaking new original tracks, “Maybe Maybe” and “Magic Glow”!

If we’re gonna get nasty baby
First we’ll show and tell
Till I reach your ponytail
Lurk all over and through you baby
Until we reach the stream
You’ll be on my jockey team

If you’re horny, let’s do it, ride it, my pony
My saddle’s waitin’, come and jump on it

If you aren’t scared and feeling at least slightly erotic, we have not hit it quite right for you.

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:: stream/purchase I Promise here ::

:: connect with Slothrust here ::

Stream: ‘I Promise’ – Slothrust

A CONVERSATION WITH SLOTHRUST

Slothrust: We both grew up listening to a ton of hip-hop and R&B. We are from the Boston area and JAM’N 94.5 was an incredibly important radio station for me. I even convinced my dad to take me to Monster Jam Festival when I was eleven and it was a disaster because so much of that music was not age appropriate. We love so many songs from this era, but this track really stood out to us because of how committed it is to the horse metaphor. It’s kinky, consensual, and totally unexpected.

Slothrust: We wanted to serve a maximalist hard rock version of this iconic song through a queer lens. We asked ourselves the question, how heavy and flashy can we make this track without losing the pocket? Curiosity is part of what keeps us making music. I love to answer a question with a song.

Slothrust: This song seems to occupy a very particular space in peoples’ memories. We don’t know exactly what that space is for each individual, but we wanted to see how it would feel if we offered this version to the collective.

Slothrust: Heavy, sexy, scary, guitar solos, drum fills. This track is meant to charm and alarm you and if you aren’t scared and feeling at least slightly erotic, we have not hit it quite right for you and that’s fine. To each their own!

Slothrust: Parallel Timeline was entirely original music, and we wanted to break things up with a surprising reinterpretation of someone else’s song. Ginuwine fully commits to this metaphor and so we fully commit as well.

Slothrust © Marcelo Mayen[/caption]

Does the future hold more Slothrust covers? Can we expect more new music before the year is out?

Slothrust: Our new EP I Promise is out now and we can’t wait for everyone to hear it! After that, we will be working on a new LP which will definitely be favoring original music more than covers, but I am sure more covers will show up in due time.

Lastly, who else (or what other songs) would you love to make your own, the way you’ve recreated “Pony” in an undeniably Slothrust fashion? Would love to hear like 3 or songs you’d have in mind if you don’t mind sharing! Thank you!

Slothrust: We don’t have any particular new cover ideas we are ready to share at the moment, but our goal in covering songs is always to recontextualize them and offer them with a contrasting spirit to the original. Historically, there is something we have always found interesting about taking love songs and leaning into the obsessive and slightly unnerving message they simultaneously contain. Love is wild and fickle. We’ll just have to see what shows up next!

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:: stream/purchase I Promise here ::

:: connect with Slothrust here ::

Stream: “Pony” – Slothrust

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