Report: Ponytail with Brand New Math & Moron Says What?! at Whammy!

I seriously thought more people would turn up. Ponytail is a band that got big ups from publications like Pitchfork, Tiny Mix Tapes, and the BBC. They were named the Best Live Band by the Baltimore City Paper two years in a row which is an impressive feat as they are lumped in the Baltimore scene with bands like Animal Collective and artists like Dan Deacon.

The first band up was a four-piece tentatively named Moron Says What?! They were great in delivering a cute indie-pop show with plenty of biting synth and choppy guitar riffs. Did I mention that they were so young for a band of that magnitude? They already have an EP out for purchase and they look like they need their moms to carry their gear. Overall, good dancing fun and a tough act to follow.

The second was Brand New Math, an electro-grunge quartet. They were equally satisfying and provided a good contrast with their late-20s curmudgeon banter ["What's the next song?" "I think we should talk about our-" "WHAT'S THE NEXT SONG?"] and refined performances. They possess a dark sound but without being too mopey about it.

Ponytail is definitely a live band. If you are a fan of their records you'll go fucking nuts for their shows. The vocalist, Molly, was completely uninhibited and thoroughly immersed in her vocal mannerisms and the rhythm section, consisting of two guitarists and a drummer, gave the singer a balance of being reserved and whimsical. Molly is the most decisive aspect of Ponytail as without her you would get a pop-surf band. Everyone at the front was eating it up and dancing like a mad person, the band included.

I seriously thought more people would turn up. Whammy has a 200-seating capacity and there wasn't enough people to warrant a fire hazard. It's unfair because their shows look fucking exhausting. They were all dressed in shirts and shorts because of how physical they can be. They make noise punk performances look tame. It was like the Powerpuff girls had Fine Arts degrees and Blossom had down syndrome. And they had technical chops to boot.

One of the highlights was talking to Ponytail before their performance. Molly, Ken, Dustin, and Jeremy talked about their upcoming album. They played half of their stuff from their latest release at the show. We talked about producing your own albums, whether HEALTH is more popular than them or not, equipment, and whether they were self-sustaining or not.

It was a great concert with all three bands performing at their peak.