Pond have arguably suffered over the years from their close associations to fellow Perth acid-rock aesthetes Tame Impala. But despite Kevin Parker’s role as producer on this seventh album, they continue to show a maverick character of their own while sharing Parker’s ear for a heady, swirling prog-pop soundscape.
Their lyrical themes for one thing help add value on this loosely conceptual set.
Edge Of The World pt 1 contemplates migrating to more inviting corners of the universe, then again, opener 30000 Megatons, which suggests we deserve nuclear destruction over a slow-building Krautrock pulse, also notes, ‘If I was the man in the moon I wouldn’t let us in’.
The theme of being humble sinners continues on the hands-to-the-heavens pop redemption hymn Sweep Me Off My Feet, which admits, ‘I’m not an angel, barely a man’.
The music can be similarly off-kilter, but while the Miami Vice-style synthwash enveloping Colder Than Ice’s soft rock banger won’t be to all tastes, it shows that this is a band determinedly ploughing their own furrow.
