Pond – Terrestrials

It’s wild to think Western Australia’s indie outfit Pond has been going for almost 20 years now, and their latest record, Terrestrials, is their 11^th studio album release. Formed in 2008, these modern psych rock veterans are also closely associated with Tame Impala, arguably Australia’s most successful band since INXS.

Terrestrials promises to be “less Pink Floyd” than the group’s past releases, as they claim to have ditched the effects pedals for a more rock ‘n’ roll focus, with snappier tracks. That said, Pond fans will rejoice that the band hasn’t gotten rid of their usual flair and flamboyance, as opener Skyworks builds up in that exhilarating way that a lot of Pond’s songs do – similar to The Weather‘s 30,000 Megatons, but with an 1980s glam rock edge. Tracks such as this were born to be played on stage, and it’s easy to imagine singer Nicholas Allbrook belting it out in front of a pumped-up festival crowd. In fact, almost all of the record is begging to be plugged into an amp, and punk rock smasher Casuarina, named after a native Australian evergreen tree, is no different. With its punchy guitar riff and bassline, it’s giving T Rex on acid with an anti-capitalist edge.

Like most artists worth their salt, Pond have opted to take aim at the unfair economic system of today’s world, with lyrical hints scattered across the record. In contrast, Through the Heather offers a more personal perspective accompanied by a softer edge. “Codeine in a silver foil that wraps around me like a million eyes, and turns me off and on,” sings Allbrook, against a suitably Smiths-like spangled guitar backing.

Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker appears as a producer on the album for one track only – The Fatal Shore. It’s an epic but instrumentally minimalist number, with Parker’s more recent synth-pop influence coming through, slotting in nicely among the more rowdier tunes.

There’s a handful of choruses on the album that will lodge themselves firmly in your head after you listen to them, including the title track Terrestrials. With its offbeat euphoric tone, Allbrook sings the dark fairytale sounding line, “Unborn tomorrows and dead yesterdays/Only psychotics, infants, lovers, and saints”, giving a surreal and almost nightmarish image. The record ends on equally dreamlike Nashville (I’m Dying), with a further nod to social inequality in the opening lyrics, “Take all the stars on the Hollywood Boulevard / Cos there ain’t no shame in being poor and working hard,” going on to sing a tale of exasperation and loneliness.

While some parts of the album don’t quite hit the mark, this record is an altogether interesting return for Pond. They’ve kept their unique end-of-times energy and channelled it into a more gothic and punk version of psychedelia, meandering through 1980s synths and glam rock undertones. A fun and, at times, peculiar record.