A Reatard Rides The Ponys

The Ponys; Jay Reatard; Turbo Fruits
@ Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY - July 21, 2007

Stunning disappointment. I did not like the Ponys. Despite having catchy, boppin' rock records, the live performance was dull. The songs didn't go anywhere. They just sort of lollygagged around. Maybe they needed a keyboard or something. A band from Chicago should be better than they were.
On the other hand, I was not expecting to enjoy the hardcore antics of one Jay Reatard of Memphis. I never took to the Lost Sounds or his old cohort Alicija Trout. But lo' and behold, it was the show stoppin', hardcore badass, non-stop buzzsaw garage punk of Mr. Reatard and his fellow bushy-haired brethren that trumped the night. Jay and the gang never let up for one minute and perhaps most miraculously, through all that intense, spastic fury, one could make out a cavalcade of three-chord old time rock n roll. It's there, lying just underneath the surface of Jay's Gene Ween-like look (and double kudos to the bass player's neo-classical Jewfro).
The Turbo Fruits are from, surprise surprise, Nashville. And, as per the rules of any band with "Turbo" in their name, they were a hard, fast-rockin' band. They couldn't be more than a collective age of 5 as well. Just kidding, but they were all under 21 and the drummer in particular looked like he was still figuring out puberity. The band is as hard rockin' as Reatard but also slowed it down here and there, a slight dash of southern sludge but only as a little way to mix it up. Good start.