Pond: Playing on Prefix

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Pond, the acid-soaked side project of some members of Tame Impala, embraces a jam-band aesthetic with an ever-shifting lineup and a series of hysterical hippie pseudonyms, including main songwriter Nick “Paisley Adams” Allbrook, Kevin “Kaykay” Parker and Jay “Wesley Goldtouch/Wiley B. Buddah” Watson. Also featuring the Silents’ Jamie Terry and Joseph “Orion” Ryan, the band is known to play its particular brand of lush psychedelic pop live with nine people plus other members, migrants and musicians alike.

With recent fourth release Beard, Wives, Denim” coinciding with multiple appearances at SXSW and a US tour, Pond has now rapidly materialized into clear view, far from the distant Western Australia farm where the album was recorded. Inevitably influenced by a combination of krautrock, as well as endless afternoons leisurely spent on the beach and country, the album mimics the breadth of the ocean and what change may occur when ever-shifting tides roll in.

When It Explodes by modularpeople

You can nearly feel damp sand tickling your bare toes with “When It Explodes”, lapping over with an expanse of thunderous delay-pedal guitar loops, resounding with wave after wave of Allbrook’s breathy vocals crooning about “somewhere we know.” Carefully stitched, monotonous percussion from Parker provides a slow build for “Eye Pattern Blindness”, followed by a rise of sultry, lustrous keywork. Then, it explodes into a dazzling disarray of layered guitars, channeling quintessential classic rock.

Bluesy “Elegant Design” is deliciously catchy, while noisy “Leisure Pony” provides a welcome break with distortion. Echoing, ethereal vocals at the beginning of standout track “Allergies” ooze Pink Floyd, while the last two minutes of the track ensue in a frenzy of surf-rock guitars and jazzy undertones, compelling you to inadvertently snap your fingers in tune. The rambling “Sorry I Was Under The Sea” exudes pure summer, days of the saltwater wind whipping through your hair.

As the name implies, Pond dives headfirst into the depths buried beneath a quaint surface. Featuring breathtakingly complex jams that ebb from wandering to tightly woven in a mere matter of moments, Pond repackages traditional psychedelia, reshaping it into a series of unpredictable and beautiful pieces.

“Beard, Wives, Denim is out on Modular. Listen to “Fantastic Explosion of Time” below and download it here:

Pond – Fantastic Explosion Of Time by modularpeople

By Paula Mejia