Pond
Beard, Wives, Denim
13 Track, LP (2012, Modular)
Related: Pond.
A sunbaked sprawl that’s part classic-rock homage and part chortling piss-take, Pond’s fourth album sees the Tame Impala sister band chase dank psych jams amid various genre diversions. Conceived on a WA farm in April 2010 and then completed while Tame Impala toured America half a year later, Beard, Wives, Denim captures an amiable bunch of kids stumbling into many musicians’ rock ‘n’ roll dream come true.
These tunes are carefree and druggy – the liner notes repeatedly describe a member having “a powerful experience” by way of inspiration – and waver like mirages of fuzzy nostalgia. They often can’t (or won’t) retain their shape for their duration, drifting happily elsewhere on the slightest whim. Nick Allbrook, Joseph Ryan and Jay Watson all contribute to songwriting, while Tame Impala frontman Kevin Parker drums throughout and The Silents’ Jamie Terry juggles roles on half the tracks.
Moth Wings by POND
Beard, Wives, Denim is every bit as nebulous as Pond’s infinite configurations. Opener ‘Fantastic Explosion of Time’ is a riotous glam lark giving way to the burbling cosmic psych of ‘When It Explodes’, only for a funk undercurrent to bubble over on ‘Elegant Design’ and later ‘Moth Wings’. ‘Eye Pattern Blindness’ and ‘Sorry I Was Under the Sky’ are big jams that don’t really bother about being songs, while ‘Dig Brother’ is noticeably Beatles-ish and ‘Allergies’ straighter than most.
The crusty, organ-burnished ‘Sun and Sea and You’ descends into handclaps and harmonies before rocking thoroughly out, and ‘Leisure Party’ cuts the band’s fondness for lugubrious effects with Parker’s engaging drumming. The porch-recorded folk shambles of closer ‘Moreno’s Blend’ offers a rare detour from Pond’s lurching headiness, while the especially flighty standout ‘You Broke My Cool’ goes from a sinister opening to a more song-y body to a bristling implosion at the end.
This isn’t the gravest of bands we’re talking about, and Beard, Wives, Denim is decidedly a low-stakes, zero-stress sampler of styles and approaches. It may find much of its richness in music of the past, but it’s more rewarding to just take it all in than to play name-the-influence.
by Doug Wallen
What: Hobo Rocket by Pond.
When: August 2 through Modular.
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I fucking LOVE this album.
I cannot wait to see them live again. SO AWESOME.
CAPS ON! HYPE!
flight of the concords has ruined falsetto for me as a serious voice but i look forward to their tour.
I do have a real problem with them using the name Pond.
Pond were a very fine Sub Pop band from Portland in the early to mid-nineties. They had a couple of college radio hits in the US, and while they weren't ever really popular they were far from obscure. I loved them.
The name is not available. (Also, Spotify suggests there was a P.O.N.D from Germany who must have been quite big there as their Greatest Hits has 26 tracks).
I always wondered about that too! From the interview a couple of weeks ago:
who cares...as long as the music's good. It's not like they called themselves The Rolling Stones, for fucks sake.
not really sure what the difference between Pond and The Rolling Stones is
about 6 shots of smack
How much difference between Pond and Pond?
9/10 and ''album of the year so far'' from NME.
Does that mean anything these days? Does the NME still think Suede was the greatest band in the history of history?
What the fuck is everyone else hearing that I'm not? This record is controvert to theft with how closely it mirrors the sounds its trying to go for!
Wasn't one of Matt Church's band named Pond?
bandzzzz
This album keeps giving. So good!
It means a shit load more people will get their hands on this album. So yeah, it means something.
2nd show added for Melbs!
Any idea who the local supports are for the Melb shows, Ben, or anyone else?
what are the times tonight?
POND:1045-1145
LAURELS: 935-1015
GOOCH PALMS:845-915
It's sold out too, unfortunately for anyone who wanted to grab a ticket at the door.
moooooooooo!!!!
Sunday 23 September - Corner Hotel