Ryan And Pony is a brand-new project from two indie-rockers who have been kicking around the much-vaunted Minneapolis music scene for years. Their upcoming debut album, Moshi Moshi, was recorded at a variety of Minneapolis studios including Flight Simulator, Flowers, Master Mix, and The Kill Room, with Ryan producing. John Fields mixed and Greg Reierson mastered the album.

Moshi Moshi will be available on 12” blue vinyl LP, CD, digital download, and streaming services on September 25th via Chicago’s Pravda Records.

Ryan Smith is a multi-instrumentalist who has been playing lead guitar in Soul Asylum since 2016. Pony (AKA Kathie Hixon-Smith) is a flamboyant performer and artist raised by deaf parents.

Together they have made numerous albums and toured internationally leading The Melismatics, with Pony also part of Hundred Flowers. The Melismatics went on to release seven studio albums and several singles, play Lollapalooza, have their music used in numerous TV shows, tour internationally, and built a devoted fanbase.

After 2013’s Rising Tide and many shows, the band wound down their touring schedule and Ryan and Pony began to work on new material. The duo continued recording songs for their debut album and playing local shows…

Meanwhile Ryan got the call to join the legendary alternative rock group Soul Asylum as their new lead guitarist and in 2016 and became very busy touring and recording. After that band’s new album, Hurry Up And Wait, came out earlier this year, Ryan was able to focus on his and Pony’s new band – and album.

Big Takeover is extremely pleased to host the video premiere of the high-flying “Thunderlove,” a jubilant ode to true love that mixes the dark tones and rhythms of post-punk and dreamy swirl of dream-pop. Totally rock ‘n’ roll in passion, but sweetly ebullient in pop emotion, “Thunderlove” is a stylistically hybrid treat that warms the heart.

On a cool note, Peter Anderson (The Ocean Blue, Run Westy Run, The Honeydogs) adds his killer drum skills to the mix, and his propulsion fuels the heady heights of the song.

In the video Ryan and Pony are shown playing and singing at times, but the clip mostly flows with found TV footage, of vintage black ‘n’ white cartoons, speeding cars down highways, the swoop of the moon climbing in the sky, and the ever-revolving world.

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