You have to be very, very confident in yourself to even consider covering a song like Ginuwine’s “Pony.” The R&B great known to his parents as Elgin Lumpkin released the transcendently horny, experimentally bugged-out “Pony” in 1996, and it sounded like a broadcast from an alien planet when it first hit the radio. The song marked the beginning of Ginuwine’s career and of Timbaland’s pop takeover, and it still sounds weird as hell today. It also endures as a great song, with a combination of nasty lyrics and disorienting dynamics that few people could ever attempt. Slothrust, the hard-rockin’ LA-based duo, have that rare confidence, and they have just dropped a “Pony” cover on our collective heard.

Two years ago, Slothrust released their album Parallel Timeline. Today, they announce plans to follow that LP with a new EP called I Promise, set to arrive next month. That EP opens with a version of “Pony,” and it features a few alternate versions of that cover, as well as a take on “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.”

With their “Pony” cover, Slothrust transform the song into a rumbling rocker, rendering its hiccuping-talkbox bassline into primal heavy rock. Frontwoman Leah Wellbaum seems to have a great time singing Ginuwine’s lyrics — “If you’re horny, let’s do it! Ride it! My pony!” — but she delivers them with a deadpan intensity that does not sound like a joke. Below, check out the videos for Slothrust’s “Pony” cover and Ginuwine’s oriignal.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Pony”
02 “Maybe Maybe”
03 “Magic Glow”
04 “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”
05 “Pony (Extended Version)”
06 “Pony (Instrumental)”
07 “Pony (Acappella)”

The I Promise EP is out 10/20 on Dangerbird.