Since forming in 2008, the only thing that’s been consistent about Australian rock group Pond is its high quality of music.Throughout its lifespan, the band has featured a rotating cast of musicians — which includes Tame Impala founder Kevin Parker and Tame touring bassist Cameron Avery — and a wide range of musical sounds that stem from a variety of recording techniques. Vocalist Nick Allbrook — who is the linchpin of the group — guitarist Jay Watson, bassist Joe Ryan and keyboardist Jamie Terry are the only founding members still in the band.
Read the Emerald’s interview with Cameron Avery here.
Pond recorded its first album, “Psychedelic Mango,” on an 8-track in Allbrook’s parents’ basement. The band’s sophomore release, “Corridors of Blissterday,” was recorded with a live, eight person band in less than a week. Both of those records featured an indie, psychedelic-rock sound that the band refers to as “neo-psych space rock.” Pond’s third album, “Frond,” took a drastic musical style change. The record featured heavier elements of pop than ever before.
Several genre leaps and lineup changes later, Pond finally found its first mainstream breakthrough with its 2012 album, “Beard, Wives, Denim.”
Pond’s seventh studio album, “The Weather” takes a slight departure from their indie sound and enters the realm of trippy rock with stronger elements of psychedelic rock. The record’s heavy synth, disjointed breakdowns and digitized vocals lay a solid foundation; however, Pond’s ability to intertwine melodies and harmonies that shouldn’t sound good but somehow do is the instrumental cornerstone of the record.
This stylistic change can be partially attributed to Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, whose 2015 album, “Currents,” also took a deeper dive into the psych/trippy rock genre. Parker, who used to be Pond’s drummer, produced “The Weather.” This collaboration doesn’t come as a surprise; Parker also produced Pond’s “Man It Feels Like Space Again,” but his influence is more prevalent on this record.
The album kicks off with Allbrook singing a challenge for the world to launch all of its nuclear weapons on “30,000 Megatons” over an arpeggiated synth riff. The song’s title and chorus is a reference to the 30,000 nuclear warheads in the Earth’s arsenal. The song was originally supposed to be released with the album, but the band decided to release it the day after Donald Trump was elected as President of the United States.
“Sweep Me Off My Feet” and “Paint Me Silver” take a lighter, almost comedic approach to the commonly written about concept of love. The songs are short and sweet, but both feature a strong, cycling harmony. The lyrics provide a nice break from the stark nature of the rest of the album.
The record takes a steps back into its grimness with “Colder than Ice,” which tells of meth infiltrating the band’s suburban hometown of Perth. The societal critique continues through the rest of the album, but especially with with the satirical “Edge Of The World Pt. 1.”
“A/B,” is really just two songs that contrast each other well enough that the band combined them into one track. The first half of the song features Allbrook singing about hypocrisy in America and Australia over a punk-esque bass and drum line. Allbrook describes an “angel” who has fallen into the grasps of drugs and is accompanied by a grand piano in the song’s latter half.
“Zen Automation,” “All I Want For Xmas (Is a Tascam 388)” and “The Edge Of The World Pt. 2” deal with modern societal issues such as superficiality, over-reliance of material items and drug use. “Zen Automation” also features the best two lyrics on the album. In the second stanza, Allbrook sings “Holy shit is that Sir Ian McKellen leaning from the clouds / Shooting lightning from his eyes all across the Burmese crowds?”
The final song and titular track was released as the album’s lead single earlier this year. “The Weather” begins with a heaving build-up and a cycling guitar melody. Allbrook begins the verse and chorus that compare life to a “worst-case scenario survival game.” He uses this game as a metaphor for making the best of a world that is full of violence, drugs and poverty.
The track ends with an epic guitar solo that overlays the opening melody, bringing the whole song together. “The Weather” perfectly captures the essence of the album and provides a sense of closure for the listener.
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