PONYSHOW – “Folks” (video) (Premiere)

Coming out of the Detroit scene, the Von Bondies were one of the aughts’ premier garage rock groups. PONYSHOW is a mix between its progeny and its reincarnated avatar. Formed in the spring of 2014 in Ferndale, Michigan, the trio is composed of Von Bondies alumni Jason Stollsteimer, Leann Banks, and Donny Blum. The group released its first 7″ in October, and now have their debut music video to go along with it, in the form of the kinetic rouser “Folks”.

Directed by Jason Hajec, the video features figurines of the band created by Banks, moving about in stop-motion animation as toy robots dance around and vibrant lights flicker. The tune has a Pixies-meets-Pavement vibe, a driving urgency built around Blum’s relentless drums, washes of guitar frenzy and the alternating/harmonizing vocals of Stollsteimer and Banks. “Buy myself a new car / And I’ll drive it to the coast”, the duo sings, conveying that feeling of breaking free and just rolling with the flow.

Below is the band’s surrealistic biography, penned by Blum.

“Donny has pale skin and slender, foolish legs. His preferred method of travel is by horseback across the dusky plains. Jason has never touched a drop of water in his life, yet he will sometimes claim otherwise. He can often be found stretched out on the floor, sleeping in a shaft of sunlight, like a cat. The two share a healthy fear of cloven-hooved animals. This fear manifests itself physically in sweaty palms and piteous, uncontrollable mewling. Leann has long, silky hair. When braided, it can suspend a bench upon which six men are sleeping. In the top left drawer of her bedroom bureau lies a small, oaken box. Inside this box is a smaller box, this one carved from hickory and inlaid with human bone. Inside this box is yet another box. No one has ever learned what lies in this last box, perhaps not even she. A more merry trio whirling and dancing upon their musical instruments you will never find.”

PONYSHOW’s 7-inch is available on translucent blue vinyl through Yeah Right!/ITA Records.

PONYSHOW is playing a handful of dates in its native state to wrap up 2014, before heading out on the road throughout the U.S., Canada, and parts of Europe in 2015. The dates are as follows:

Nov. 21 – Kalamazoo, MI – Shakespeare’s Pub

Nov. 22 – Ypsilanti, MI – Crossroads

Nov. 26 – Hamtramck, MI – Painted Lady

Dec. 27 – Detroit, MI – PJ’s Lager House