We love animals. In fact, we're secretly training to be EAMTs (Emergency Animal Medical Technicians) so that we can save kittens and turtles and gerbils. We aren't alone in this love, however, as is evident by the longstanding trend of animal-centric band names: The Eagles, The Unicorns, Tortoise, Grizzly Bear, The Animals, Super Furry Animals, Band of Horses, Cat Power, Le Tigre, Modest Mouse, Gorillaz, Doves, Eels, Sparklehorse, and now -- The Ponys.

Ok, not "now" -- The Ponys have been jamming noisy post-punk style in the Windy City since 2000. They signed with Matador in September and just released a new album, Turn The Lights Out, on March 20th.

Tonight they're playing at Emo's inside with openers Deerhunter and Lomita, also not to be missed either. Atlanta noise-rockers Deerhunter (no, not related to the movie) have garnered lots of admiration for their releases, especially from that-blog-whose-reviews-we-won't-admit-we-sometimes-read. In fact, both Deerhunter and The Ponys will be at said blog's festival this summer (whose lineup is looking pretty ballin' right now).

See where a little name-dropping will take you: fill in your info, and we just might send you to the show.

Congrats, winners!

The Ponys w/ Deerhunter and Lomita
Wednesday, April 18th
Emo's outside [map]
Doors at 8pm, show at 10pm, $8

The Ponys on [MySpace]
Deerhunter on [MySpace]
Lomita on [MySpace]

Photo courtesy Matador Records