POND
Man It Feels Like Space Again
January 26 2015 (Caroline)
7.5/10
Words: Alison Mack
Man, it feels like Perth psych Pond again. Going for their sixth full-length run in as many years in this latest work, recorded over several months last year in Melbourne, the nine-track, 45-minute work follows last year’s 'Hobo Rocket', and much in the same way plays trippy energy against moments of fun and vivacity.
Pop efficaciousness abounds in the likes of five-minute long opening track ‘Waiting Around For Grace’, which sets high-pitched vocals about being “tired of being tired” to sizzling synths. Single, 'Elvis’ Flaming Star', veers between 70s rock glam, rolling bass lines and fuzzed-out guitars and spacey synths, before double-dipping in and out of a mid-tune reverie.
Elsewhere, blissed-out ballad 'Sitting Up On Our Crane', is supported by a gentle guitar that whispers beneath former Tame Impala bassist Nick Allbrook’s lyrics: “It always feels the same when we’re up high/’Cos I feel like I fall and die”. ‘Holding Out For You’ takes a sombre vocal line hidden below keyboards, before evolving into a shrieking crescendo.
There are significantly fewer vocal stack blowouts from Allbrook; more synths, and various examples of combining programmed and acoustic drum sounds. "Tell me what went wrong/What about Zond?” Indeed, what about the ebullient funk of ‘Zond’, all powerful electronics and the beseeching ejaculations of Allbrook. Allbrook took control of most of the songwriting on the band's last album, on '...Space Again's credits are primarily held by guitarist Joseph Ryan and drummer Jay Watson, who lend balance to the album as a whole, their different styles working in efficient partnership.
Closer, the eight-minute long title track - the name of which Ryan allegedly came up with while “high on some consumables” - rears up in uncontrolled fluctuation, making the song sound like jammed-together spontaneous combustions. That's space for you.
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