The Ponys were an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

band from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, United States, formed by singer/guitarist Jered Gummere, in early 2001. Gummere was concurrently in the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band, Guilty Pleasures, at the time of The Ponys’ formation. He eventually left to devote himself entirely to The Ponys. Gummere recruited members of the band, his first choice being girlfriend Melissa Elias whom he met while she was attending

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

in his hometown. Together they experimented with

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

styles. The two began to write songs, and were joined by ex-Mushuganas drummer, Nathan Jerde. The Ponys began touring the Chicago club circuit and would then record their first singles on Contaminated and Big Neck records. Concerned their sound was lacking, Gummere asked Ian Adams, a member of Happy Supply to join the band. After releasing a few more singles, the Ponys signed with In the Red Records (based in Los Angeles), due to widespread circulation. The band was set to record their first album, '' Laced with Romance'', in Detroit with producer Jim Diamond.

''Laced with Romance''

Their initial release, ''Laced With Romance'', met with moderate critical succes

The album reached media from local indie-zines such as Horizontal Action, to mainstream-America music publications like

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

and

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

. The Ponys toured to support their album, with bands like

The Unicorns ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, The Fall, and

The Fiery Furnaces The Fiery Furnaces are an American indie rock band, formed in 2000 in Brooklyn, New York.. - ''In 2000 they moved Brooklyn... and began playing as the Fiery Furnaces late in the year''. - Allmusic The band's primary members are Matthew and Eleanor ...

''Celebration Castle''

Despite some members wanting to leave due mostly to exhaustion, The Ponys continued and began to record their second album. Wanting to record locally they met with Chicago-based producer

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal en ...

, who had previously worked with artists such as

PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined loca ...

The Pixies Pixies is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986, in Boston, Massachusetts. Until 2013, the band consisted of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) and David Lovering ...

, and

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

. The Ponys began recording in late 2004 and were finished in four days. The album held a much cleaner tone than the first, but still retained the recognizable live sound that they were known for. Later that year, Ian Adams left the band, tired of touring and was replaced by Brian Case of

90 Day Men 90 Day Men is an American progressive rock band formed in 1995 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and later based in Chicago, Illinois. Their name is a slang term used by police officers to refer to prison inmates who are due to undergo psy ...

. ''Celebration Castle'' was released in early 2005 and the band continued touring.

''Turn the Lights Out''

Since recording ''Celebration Castle'', the Ponys have left In the Red Records and signed with the New York-based indie label

Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts. History Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City apart ...

. They recorded their third album, titled ''Turn The Lights Out'', in the fall of 2006. The album was released on March 20, 2007. In 2010, the band released their first new recording since ''Turn the Lights Out'', the EP ''Deathbed Plus 4''. Guitarist Brian Case currently plays in

Disappears Disappears is an American rock band from Chicago, Illinois, United States, which formed in 2008. The band played a mixture of shoegaze, krautrock and garage rock. The band was formed by Brian Case (ex- 90 Day Men, The Ponys) and Graeme Gibson ...

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Laced with Romance'' ( In the Red, 2004) * '' Celebration Castle'' (In the Red, 2005) * '' Turn the Lights Out'' (

Matador A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

, 2007)

Other

* ''Wicked City'' (

Big Neck Moanahonga, known as Big Neck or Great Walker, was an Iowa people , Iowa Nation leader. In July 1829 Big Neck had ostensibly led a party of Ioway Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans to return to their former hunting grounds alon ...

, 2002) * ''Pop Culture'' (Maybe Chicago?/ Criminal IQ, 2004) * ''Another Wound'' (Sweet Nothing, 2005) * ''Deathbed +4'' (Matador, 2010)

TV appearances

Beautiful Noise ''Beautiful Noise'' is the tenth album by Neil Diamond and his third with Columbia Records, released in 1976. "Dry Your Eyes" was performed with The Band at their farewell show and is featured in Martin Scorsese's ''The Last Waltz''. Overvi ...

* Entourage, Season 4, Episode: Dream Team

Band members

Current

*Jered Gummere – guitar, vocals *Melissa Elias – bass, vocals *Brian Case – guitar *Nathan Jerde – percussion

Past

*Ian Adams – guitar

References

External links

The Ponys on Myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponys, The Garage rock groups from Illinois Indie rock musical groups from Illinois Garage punk groups Musical groups from Chicago 2001 establishments in Illinois Musical groups established in 2001 2010s disestablishments in Illinois Musical groups disestablished in the 2010s Matador Records artists