Amazon.comAt heart, the Ponys are a garage band. The Chicago quartet stretches the limits of the form so far, however, they practically explode it. You could just call it "rock and roll," but the phrase is as inadequate to the Ponys as it is to Television, the Voivoids, and the Only Ones. If a band has a lifetime to prepare for their debut, the follow-up is where they really prove their mettle. Produced by Steve Albini, their second full-length makes it clear the Ponys are here to stay. Granted, Laced With Romance was an impressive opening salvo, but Celebration Castle aims higher. The group takes more risks and, fortunately, they pay off, like the nod to Joy Division in "We Shot the World," the Gimme Shelter boogie-woogie of "Get Black," or when Melissa Elias takes a rare lead vocal on "She's Broken" and gives Sleater-Kinney a run for their money. --Kathleen C. Fennessy