Harmony Handgrenade sees Paul Megna treading into new territory, giving up the lo-fi autobiographical melancholy of his debut for a richer, multi-textured soundscape. Strings, horns and backing vocals abound as Megna sardonically attacks corporate America on this politically charged and ironic follow-up. Sexy and immediate, lyrically intoxicating and musically loose, Harmony Handgrenade is post-apocalyptic without being melodramatic or self-indulgent. It’s matter of fact, chastened, jaded but hopeful. Just like Megna himself.

Produced by Megna and Don Piper and recorded live at Between the Trains studios in the fall of 2007 with Piper engineering, Harmony Handgrenade nearly became the record you were never going to hear. H.H. was recorded quickly with a live rhythm section in a single week. Nothing was rehearsed. The sessions ended a month later when overdubs were handled in the same celebratory way. The original mixes were completed by Thanksgiving, but Megna wasn't satisfied with the overall 'feel' so he turned to Dave McNair at Sterling Sound. McNair remixed and mastered the album in its entirety and handed Paul the completed project in April 2008. There was still plenty of time to prepare for a fall release to coincide with the upcoming election - only the Oxygen Ponies had been dealt an ugly hand. While McNair was finishing the record, Megna unexpectedly lost his day job and remained unemployed for the next nine months. No income meant no record release and no touring as there wasn’t any money to pay the band. So he tucked the masters under his bed and started producing Randi Russo's ‘Fragile Animal’. As the months passed, Paul struggled with the idea of throwing the whole project away or leaving it hidden under his bed as the 'lost' Oxygen Ponies record. Then in December of 2008 he listened to it again and decided it was still a great record and deserved a wider audience regardless of whether he was employed or could afford to have the whole band perform it with him or not.

Harmony Handgrenade was released on Hidden Target Recordings on May 19th, 2009 to more critical acclaim and eventually landed on three bloggers best albums of 2009 lists with the XX, Conor Oberst, Willie Nelson and the Animal Collective et al. It was championed on the air by Bob Harris of BBC Radio 2 who exclaimed “This is a really quite wonderful album… I think this music is amazing…” and the accolades snowballed. Brian Baker of Amplifier Magazine claimed “Harmony Hangrenade places Paul Megna into a class with some of music’s most creative purveyors.” Stereo Subversion claimed “[Megna] will soon take his place among the most influential of this generation’s musicians.” The Oxygen Ponies were personally invited by Bob Harris to play on his curated stage at the Truck Festival with member of the Jayhawks, Incredible String Band, Pete Molinari and Danny and the Champions of the World et al.