by RAF KATIGBAK

If you walk through the hallways of the old Molson Brewery practice spaces, past the Eddie Vedder wannabees and the bands with the gothic font and three umlauts in their names, you may notice the smell of fresh baked goods and the sweet sound of female harmonies, humalicious melodies and lots of giggling. You have now entered the Pony Up! zone.

After only two years of existence and about a year of playing shows, armed with ultra-mega cuteness and pop tunes as infectious as cooties, these five young lasses - Lisa Smith (bass), Camilla Wynne Ingr (various things), Laura Wills (keyboard), Sarah Moundroukas (guitar) and Lindsay Wills (drums) - have stolen Montreal's heart and sent many a hipster boy home delirious with crushness. Their songs of love, heartbreak and sex (including an ode to '80s heartthrob Matthew Modine) have rocked pizza parlours in Burlington, clubs in Philly and the Pop Montreal festival. With a recently completed album in their pockets, recorded at godspeed! HQ Hotel 2 Tango, they're sparking interest from a certain vanity label of an as yet unnameable ex-indie-rock star.

To say Pony Up! spend a lot of time together is an understatement. The band is made up of sisters, roommates, co-workers and best friends. Since "band time" is split between writing songs at practice and writing songs at slumber parties - which include rounds of Madlibs, hair-doing, music-video watching and alcohol consumption - the Mirror decided to whip out a slumber party staple, the Cosmo quiz to find out "what kind of sexy is Pony Up!"

Mirror: What's a hot date to Pony Up? A, slipping into your sexiest deep-V dress and hitting a club to shake your booty, B, eating at a cozy, romantic restaurant, or C, hitting the beach or lying on a blanket on the grass in the park?

Laura Wills: For date time, it's all about the beach. We'd bring food, make muffins with gnash.

Lisa Smith: Only if we could rip shit up there. I'm thinkin' a bonfire and a lot of alcohol. Not like a family-time beach.

Camilla Wynne Ingr: It's about making out in the bushes and bringing forties.

M: At a bar, you see a totally delish guy. What do you do? A, slyly smile at him and wait for him to come hither? B, chat up his buddies as your "in" to flirting with him? C, walk over and tell him he's just inspired a new drink, the Yummytini (giggles)?

LS: As a band we'd tag-team it and go right up to the guy. We all go up and have mega amounts of confidence, so I'd say C.

CWI: Except the Yummytini part. That's full-on retarded.

LW: We'd go up and offer him some moonshine in a jar. That's Pony Up!

M: Which famous femmes do you most identify with? A, Mischa Barton and Katie Holmes - sensual, sweet, and slightly mysterious? B, Kate Hudson and Jennifer Aniston - a little goofy but glam? C, J.Lo and Britney Spears - eye-poppingly glitzy and gutsy?

LS: Can we come up with a D?

LW: Mae West 'cause she's bold, sexual and humorous, and Chrissie Hynde 'cause she rocks.

All: Yeah!

Dough-boys and tomboys

M: Think about the last time things didn't take off with a guy you liked. What happened? A, he said you played too many games or didn't send enough clear signals that you really liked him, B, he treated you like a friend but never put the moves on you, or C, you were so "Hey, baby" forward with him that he was a little freaked out?

All: (groans)

M: Sounding familiar?

CWI: D, all of the above. We'll take them all.

All: Yeah!

LW: Hey, our Pony Up! boyfriends are perfect! They don't put the moves on us.

LS: Except those army guys.

M: Army guys?

LS: They were about to go off and liberate Iraq, it was their last night in Burlington. They wanted to get laid with Pony Up!

LW: I had the one that passed out and Lindsay had the one who got mad because we were getting a little too political for them.

M: Okay, after tallying up your score, according to Cosmo, Pony Up! is, "The quintessential natural but naughty chick - fun-lovin' sexy." The problem is you may fall into a buddy role with your beau, acting too tomboyish.

LW: That's true. Our songs are rough and tumble and tender.

LS: But being a tomboy is not a drawback. It just prevents people from fucking us.

All: Literally.

With Wolf Parade and Holy Moly at the Lickety Split smut zine launch at Casa del Popolo, Saturday, Jan. 17

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