New Young Pony Club biography
New Young Pony Club are an English electronic band from London, consisting of members from London, Hereford, Cambridge and Bromley. Their influences are prominently from post-punk and New Wave.
New Young Pony Club are influenced by many different bands and acts, and try not to risk becoming too close to the sound of any one other band. Their own take on their music is "We marry the dance ethic with the pop ethic, and make something that you can dance to and sing along to".
Career
Forming and signing
Mutual friends introduced now London-based vocalist Tahita Bulmer and producer Andy Spence, who shared a love of punk rock and dance music. The founding pair began writing together, originally only for Bulmer to perform. Spence later assumed a larger role when they decided to form a proper band, so the duo recruited the single-monikered Lou (keyboards), Igor Volk (bass), and Sarah Jones (drums). The band formed in 2005, and released two limited edition 7" singles ("The Get Go" and "Ice Cream") on indie label Tirk Recordings before being discovered by more established Australian label Modular Recordings, and signing a worldwide deal.
The band's name came from lead singer Bulmer's desire to be a part of a club or team at school. Her original idea for the band name was the more concise "Pony Club", which she describes as "quirky and kinky and fun". A pre-existing Irish band had already claimed the name, and the prefix "New Young" was added to reflect that the band are "a newer, younger and kinkier Pony Club".
Breakthrough
The band has enjoyed success in their early years. Their highest chart placing for a first release was number 47 for second official single "The Bomb", though a re-release of "Ice Cream" reached number 40. They put their lack of chart success down to not having the "desire to make really radio friendly singles", but also claim that they "don't want to be the biggest band in the world". New Young Pony Club have been successful in Australia, the home of their label, where they have received airplay on radio station Triple J.
The band's song "Ice Cream" got very wide play in 2009 as a 30 second soundtrack for the TV and Internet advertisement for the Cube Mobile Device from the Nissan car company.
Fantastic Playroom
The band's debut album,
Fantastic Playroom, was released on Modular Recordings on 9 July 2007 in the UK and 28 August in the U.S. Although the band had an album's worth of material, they decided to create an entirely new album.
Since its release, Fantastic Playroom has received generally positive reviews from the music press in Britain. Mixmag awarded it Album of the Month in its July issue. On 17 July Fantastic Playroom was shortlisted for the 2007 Mercury Prize.
The Optimist
The new album
The Optimist was released in the UK on 8 March 2010.
According to the We Smoke Fags final MySpace blog posting, their bassist Lee has joined New Young Pony Club after We Smoke Fags have decided to go on an indefinite hiatus
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