The Ponys.

"ROCK 'N' ROLL'S ESSENCE is that it's made by and for kids. It's not about virtuosity--it's about energy, passion, frustration, lust, and fun. Not to mention drugs. Teenage life. Life and life only."--Richard Hell from Hot and Cold

"We use old guitar amps so maybe that's why people hear that vintage sound in our music, but the lyrics are about modern times and we're trying to make new noises," explains singer/guitarist Jered Gummere, of the Chicago based group The Ponys.

After the group's 2004 release Laced in Romance, the foursome were hailed as the leaders of the second wave of '60s/'70s punk revisionism. Even Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore praised them, writing that they were "hot as fucking tar" and that "very few combos have the brains, guts, or chunks to actually use Richard Hell's sound as a specific model." Not bad for a group's debut release.

The Ponys formed in late 2001, after Gummere left the Chicago punk band Guilty Pleasures. He began writing songs with bassist Melissa Elias. Elias had never been in a band before, but her deadpan Kim Dealesque drone and solid bass lines disguised any lack of stage experience. The couple asked Nathan Jerde, formerly of the Mushuganas, if he wanted to join. Jerde accepted, wanting nothing more than to move away from the cornfield he had grown up in. Ian Adams completed the group. Adams grew up in the liberal college town of Ann Arbor listening to the Byrds and Pink Floyd with his father. Adams added a cool modish melody with his second guitar, keyboards and ray gun to the group's blend of classic rock and punk a la the Velvet Underground and the Cramps.

After hearing one of The Ponys first singles, Larry Hardy, owner of In the Red Records, asked to meet up with Gummere and Elias while the two were vacationing in California. The Ponys knew the label was regarded for its diverse roster and 6th-sense-like ability to uncover underground sensations, but they'd never imagine their fate would be sealed between tequila shots at a late night karaoke session.

"We met up with Larry at the Modey Lemon show. No one was there, so he took us around the corner to this karaoke bar and got us wasted. He told us he loved our band and wanted to put out the record. We had an early flight the next morning. We left Hollywood with the worst hang over and a record deal," says Elias.

After The Ponys recorded Laced in Romance with Jim Diamond (bassist of the Dirtbombs) in his Detroit studio (one time chicken processing plant, now home to the finest collection of vintage mics, guitars, amps and '70s porn) Ghetto Recorders, they hit the road and haven't come home since. The group spent most of the last year on the road touring the US and Europe. They ate way too much Taco Bell, found out just how homogenized the world is, shared the stage with veteran rockers like the Hot Snakes and promising newcomers Dios and the Unicorns, and took countless roles of film from the window of the van. They also brought their unassuming brilliant rock to excited kids too young to remember what they've been missing in music. Songs like the amusing "Little Friends," about Gummere's one-time day job as a pet sitter and "Chemical Imbalance," a social critique of self-medicating to deal with life, simply reflect all aspects of life--from the absurd to the profound, and everything in between.

"We get home and three days later we're anxious to be back out on the road working. I can't sit still," says Gummere, explaining the band's non-stop schedule. When asked what draws them to this lifestyle, they can't really explain it, except to say that this is what they've always wanted. Instead, Gummere would rather talk about hobbies.

"I like game shows--I want to make my own game show. The old games shows from 20 years ago are so much better. They were fast, entertaining and exciting. Everything now-a-days is so tired."