Pond - Frond

Thu 21st Oct, 2010 in Music Reviews

If Tame Impala – as the naysayers constantly assert – isn’t truly ‘psychedelic’, then the band’s side project Pond sure is

Borrowing two Impalas, drummer-turned-multi-instrumentalist Jay Watson and bassist-turned-singer Paisley Adams (as well as being augmented live by main Impala Kevin Parker ), the Perth band make glamourous, psychedelic party rock. Formed on a whim after being asked to play at a party, Pond have managed retained this bashful spontaneity and all-round fun vibe on their third release-their first on a label.

Opening with the wildly energetic Betty Davis (Will Come Down From The Heavens To Save Us) and the smooth flow of Cloud City, a bare five minutes into it and the album is already on one hell of an adventure. The openers- particularly the huge riff of the first- are real highlights and give a good indication of what Pond is all about.

The following half hour continues this untamed exploration- an exploration that Pond are ridiculously talented at leading. Adams’ high vocal range sometimes sounds like a mix between Andrew Stockdale and Devendra Banhart, but the sheer sense of pleasure and entertainment on Frond sets it apart from most other current bands. Bizarrely, as a member of Tame Impala, Adams is quite dormant. Though given his ferocious dynamism in this project, a break is at least forgivable.

Fuzzy guitars rule some songs, like Cloud City, while piano takes over on Sunlight Cardigan and electric is replaced by acoustic guitar on the organic sounding Mother Nigeria. The latter is one of the simpler tracks on the album and is slightly irritating on first listen (it’s a grower).

As with their main project, Tame Impala, cynics will argue that this rehash of 50s/60s psych-rock is entirely unoriginal. Album closer Frond should dismiss most of those claims. The nine-minute epic, in which crunched up vocals interchange with the untouched, ends with a lovely piano composition as yet another the talent is uncovered.

With the title track pushing the album over forty minutes, it’s hard to reflect on specific songs. Maybe it’s intended that album is listened to in such a haze as it was undoubtedly created in. Consumed as a whole, it has elements of Tame Impala playing The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour – particularly on Sunlight Cardigan – but it’s harder to pin down: it’s the product of many different ingredients, borrowing mainly from psychedelic pop and rock.

Recorded whilst Parker was busy recording Tame Impala’s debut album, the similarities between the two albums are few and far between. Pond serves as the brilliant, hyperactively artistic cousin of Tame Impala. Where the Impalas are criticised for being boring and too derivative, Pond is wildly entertaining and creative.