Detachment Kit, The Ponys, Vending Machine March 17, 2006

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03-18-2006

The Ponys
Vending Machine

Young Ave Deli
Memphis, TN
$8
Indie Pop Rock
The Ponys



It was dark scary night. Full of clouds and rain and the sounds of wild boars chewing up their prey. Actually I can?t remember what it was like, but it was in late 2000 and Jered and Melissa decided they were going to start a band. Maybe it was boredom or maybe it was a way to spend more time together. Whatever it was, all it took was a quick conversation with Nathan and The Ponys were on their way. Spending many nights in their super ghetto practice space banging away at new songs and drinking many a fifteen pack of Old Style. In August of 2001, the trio decided it was time to start making their mark in the city. They played various clubs, starting with the Beat Kitchen, which seemed like their home for a while. At this point, the band decided it was time to get their songs down on tape. A quick stop at Semaphore Studios in Chicago and another quick trip down to Memphis produced The Ponys their first two singles. With these singles being circulated around the underground scene for a while, they finally ended up in the hands of Mr. Larry Hardy of IN THE RED RECORDS and The Ponys were now going to make their first full length. Back in Chicago, Jered was concerned about The Ponys sound. When they recorded they could over-dub guitars and keyboards to fill out the sound, but it was difficult to duplicate live. So The Ponys employed the skills of Ian Adams, wrote some more songs and recorded Laced With Romance in the spring of 2003 with Jim Diamond in Detroit. In the spring of 2004, Laced With Romance hit the record store shelves and The Ponys hit the road. The Ponys toured all over the states and even found time to make a quick trip to the U.K. and northern Europe. In the meantime, Laced With Romance garnered a lot of press attention, more then the band ever thought possible. Appearing in magazines such as Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Spin, NME, and Mojo. In late summer of 2004, The Ponys found a little time and laid down some tracks with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago. After a few more out of town dates, they came back to mix and the end result was Celebration Castle. At the end of the year, Ian decided this was not the life for him and put in his resignation. Now it?s 2005, Celebration Castle is on its way, the band has added Brian Case to the roster, and everybody is ready to take on the world.

VENDING MACHINE

The moniker for the project of guitarist/songwriter Robby Grant, Vending Machine incorporates elements of lo-fi rock, folk, funk, garage, singer/songwriter pop, and whatever else happens to strike Grant's fancy. His debut, Unleavened Bread, was released on Yep Roc in 1997. Having taken the Vending Machine name from a song he wrote while reading over the business section of a newspaper, Grant's four-track follow-up The Chamber From Here to There was a dizzying roll call of stylistic jumps, hilariously eccentric arrangements, and lyrical obscurity that was far more successful than it should have reasonably been. In 2003 he released 5 Piece Kit. His latest, Kicked and Scratched, came out in late 2004.