French Toast Ponys

Kahoots, a Martha's Vinyard-based indie pop band with a strong local following, was in mid-set when I arrived. I'd guess that half the audience was there for them, as they seemed to know Kahoots' repertoire better than the band. "Play 'Jonathan Richmond'" yelled one enthusiast, and the lead singer grimaced and answered, "We can't play that anymore." They finally settled on "I'm Willing", which was just fine, all tightly constructed hooks and hard-hitting melodies, and with "Riding the Snake" which followed, a tiny bit of country crept in. I caught them on a streamlined night -- just four guys on stage -- but they've been known to play with a larger band, too, sometimes getting Bob Weston from Shellac to sit in on trumpet.

French Toast followed, their minimal, two-man post-punk grooves sounding a good deal harder-edged than on the excellent new In a Cave. The band started with Jerry Busher on bass and James Canty playing drums, skittering percussively over sampled electronics. Album tracks like "Off Center" percolated with suppressed energy, though the rhythms were louder, more emphatic, less delicate than on the record. "Seen Me" was a clear highlight, with the echoey, James Bond-ish bass notes creating an ominous dreamy space around whispered vocals. The song kicked into high gear, literally erupting midway through, turning murmured threat into violence. Then, after a handful of songs, the two principals switched and former Fugazi drummer Busher took the drumsticks, tossing one, for some reason, into the crowd. He was a powerful presence behind the kit, immediately upping the tempo and increasing the force of blows. It was as if the threat that was lurking under the surface suddenly rose to show its teeth as he cranked up the pounded sixteenth notes under "Lion's Den", and was echoed by Canty's frantic strummed guitar line. There's an array of unearthly samples and recorded drum tracks, which sometimes detract from the performance, but here they seemed fully integrated with a very live, very visceral, very physical show. In the Cave has a cerebral, inner-looking quality, despite (or even because of) its dance-referencing rhythms. French Toast live is a rock band, channelling same chaotic energy as Fugazi, The Make-Up or Ted Leo (all bands Canty and Busher have been associated with).

One of the main reasons I wanted to see French Toast was "Insane", a song that redefines "quiet intensity" on the Washington edition of Burn To Shine. This DVD is the first installment of Brendan Canty's series of films in which music is performed in buildings that are about to be destroyed. The Ponys, next on the bill, are slated for the second installment, along with Wilco, Tortoise and assorted Chicago luminaries. Maybe that's why they were sharing a bill with French Toast, because on the surface, the two bands don't appear to have much in common. The Ponys' Laced with Romance was one of last year's best rock records, combining short, sharp guitars with Jered Gummere's distinctive yelp and, in a few tracks, leaving space for the spooky-cool dead-pan of bass player Melissa Elias. However, it was a relatively simple thing -- a catchy, spiky, pop-punk pleasure, not as gnarled and difficult and edgy as French Toast's music.

Or at least that was what I thought before the show started. Since Laced with Romance, the Ponys have replaced original guitarist Ian Adams with Brian Case of 90 Day Men. With that addition -- and a new record called Celebration Castle coming out on In the Red later this month -- the band was showcasing a significantly different sound. Less garagey and more experimental, the new songs stretched out, with continuous Television-like guitar runs rather than the catchy repetitive hooks from the band's debut. Jered barked out lyrics -- and unfortunately, the vocals were too low to catch most of them -- then turned to orchestrate wails of feedback from the amps. It was as if the band had left town as The Stooges and came back as Sonic Youth, but the new material seemed very strong. An early cut called something like "We Shot the War" (sorry, neither The Ponys nor In the Red seem to be sharing track listings) had a powerful droning beat, while a new, punky cut with Elias trading vocals was dissonantly compelling. A late-set Satan-themed song sounded like maybe the best bridge between the old Ponys and new, with its hard punk beat and melodic chorus. The band played only two songs from its debut, "Sometimes I Feel Like Killing Myself" and "10 Fingers/11 Toes" -- and the new guitarist was having some trouble with the latter. These familiar tunes made it clear that the band had moved on from its pop-garage roots to a more fluid, looser-structured style. It reminded me of the gap between the Stooges' first album toward the more free-wheeling, difficult cuts on Funhouse -- and like that shift, I'm guessing that the Ponys' new style will work out just fine.

Article by Jennifer Kelly. Photos by Billy Kelly, Jr.