It’s hard to say what exactly trips up Ponybird’s Full Cold Moon. The songwriting isn’t particularly fantastic, but it’s not all that bad either. Songs like “Ramblin’ Rose” and “Foolin’ Yourself” are both decently written songs that have a lot of potential. However, many of the songs come off tired and lackadaisical. Even moments that should be enjoyable — like the use of an answering machine message from singer-songwriter Jennifer Dauphinais’ mother at the start of “Ramblin’ Rose” — just come off as a lazy attempt to coat the song with something interesting. The only track that really grabbed me here was “The Changing Tide.” An instrumental jazz piece, it’s a bizarre entry on the album. Even more bizarre is that on an album that largely consists of folk music it is the strongest example of songwriting. It makes me wonder if Dauphinais is just in the wrong genre of music.

(self-released, no address provided)