Nathan Jerde, the drummer for Chicago’s beloved early-aughts garage rock revivalists the Ponys, has died. Matador Records shared the news last night, Monday, May 5, with the band’s former label, In the Red, also posting a message to Instagram earlier today: “[Jerde] was an awesome guy and a fantastic drummer. To say he will be missed is an understatement,” it reads, in part.
Formed in 2001 by singer and guitarist Jered Gummere, the Ponys began their life as a three-piece of himself, bassist Melissa Elias, and Jerde, who was playing in local punk act the Mushuganas at the time. They soon grew to a quartet with the addition of Happy Supply’s Ian Adams, who contributed organ and additional guitar, and, after putting out a series of singles on local labels Big Neck and Contaminated records, signed to Los Angeles-based label In the Red. The Ponys’ debut album, Laced with Romance, came out in 2004, and they went on to tour the record alongside the likes of the Fall and the Fiery Furnaces.
While Laced with Romance was a straightforward blend of garage scuzz and British Invasion mod-rock, for their sophomore LP, 2005’s Steve Albini-produced Celebration Castle, the Ponys drew inspiration from Joy Division and early Sonic Youth. That same year, the band put out an EP, titled Another Wound. They eventually replaced Adams with 90 Day Men’s Brian Case and were picked up by Matador, where they released what would be their third and final studio album, Turn the Lights Out, in 2007. The Ponys have since stayed off the radar, resurfacing briefly in 2010 with the EP Deathbed + 4 and again in 2017 for a one-off reunion show at Chicago’s Do Division Street Fest.
As Pitchfork wrote in our review of the Ponys’ debut: “What sets Laced with Romance apart from the abundance of garage-rock albums released over the past few years is its ample possession of groove, by turns big and heavy or loose and sloppy. The record’s 12 tracks display a deep understanding of basic rhythm, something direly lacking among the current crop of throwback acts. Ponys drummer Nathan Jerde reliably hammers every backbeat, but the propulsive silence of his ghost notes is what truly drives these songs.”
