I saw another club rock show this weekend, making it, while not like the Rocktober's of old, certainly the most rocking stretch of decent live music in a while. I'm getting old, of course, but it just seems like we're not getting the caliber of bands through that we once did.

The Ponys were latest on the list, playing a tight, loud set of tunes from their two LPs. The show was just as loud as the Posies show I ranted about last week, but the appropriateness of that volume made all the difference in the world. While the Posies music is more based on subtlety, harmonies and hooks, the Ponys use noise as a bludgeon, part of the overall structure of their songs. From the searing opener, "Let's Kill Ourselves" (itself the opener to the band's debut disc, Laced with Romance) to the lacerating tunes from the band's sophomore outing Celebration Castle, the band lassoed guitar squall, pounding drums and herky-jerky vocals to create something greater than the sum of these parts.

I heard parts of the same things that make most of the New York scene so hip, from Talking Heads to Gang of Four to Richard Hell and even the vintage 4/4 barre chord rock of early Velvet Underground, all filtered through the angular songs of singer-guitarist Jered Gummere. So, no, there really is nothing new under the sun. But the Ponys, making this kind of music in Chicago, no less, have found a new way to harness the sunshine.