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When it comes to musicians making a move into global waters, the Australian music industry seems to have a chronic tendency to file all of its strongest talent overseas in order to guarantee maximum profit. I suppose this has always been endemic to the international music business, but it is particularly heinous to see some of our most exciting acts go absolutely nuclear in the States and the U.K, amassing widespread love and care, while other, equally interesting and creative acts at home toil away below deck. Pond emerged from the same Perth-based gene pool as Kevin Parker (Tame Impala, if you still didn’t know). Kevin Parker was actually their drummer from 2009 to 2011. Because Parker has gone on to become more of a global name, Pond often frustratingly gets reduced to a “side project” of Tame Impala. They are a band with their own individuality, who just happened to come of age as a new dawn of Australian psychedelia was finding its footing. This meant a lot of knock-offs, and I think Pond has fallen to the wayside a bit over the years.
I think all of this is to say that Pond, at the very least, deserves their flowers for paving so much road for a lot of the very acidic, reverb-drenched, modern day neo-psychedelia that this country has produced. I’m also using this as a preface to now make the claim that this might actually be their most clear-headed record to date. Pond have not necessarily always struck a huge chord with me personally, and I do think a lot of it is their songwriting approach causing their songs to maneuver between my ears, but never actually land. For as hazy, fuzzed-out and knotty as their music tends to get, it never quite makes up for the tunes themselves lacking that little bit of muster. On ‘Terrestrials’, Pond adopts a decidedly new-wave approach to their aforementioned psych disposition that lends the music here some genuine punch and groove. Historically, Australia’s new-wave/post-punk (and I guess by extension its pub rock) scenes have resulted in some of the nation’s most commercially explosive exports yet. INXS, Midnight Oil, Icehouse, Men At Work, Hunters & Collectors, The Angels, just to name a couple. The DNA of these bands can be spotted within the finer details of this record.
The numerous watery synth and guitar leads, the sunburnt imagery, the ethereal atmospheres coating a large portion of this thing’s runtime. This is a deeply Australian album, and this lineage extends even further when you break down the lyrical content. “Skyworks” hints at a growing despair for the destruction of this country’s natural, picturesque habitats. “Now my future’s in the water, and I’m on my hands and knees”. A cry for help doesn’t get much more obvious than this. “Casuarina” is equally direct, “how many mines just earn for Gina?”. The fried bursts of guitar post-chorus assist in hammering home the urgency of this message. The Oils-like “Roebuck Plains” is haunted with a pain for the wrongs committed on sacred lands. Once again, invoking the mining industry and its systematic pillaging through mentions of the Rio Tinto owned Mount Tom Price. Elsewhere, sticky ragers like “Two Hands” and “Terrestrials” exemplify humanity’s bizarre nature, as well as their impulsive inclinations towards both casual violence and intense affection. These two lead singles teased the goth-tinged pub punk sound of ‘Terrestrials’ perfectly. The human condition is conducive to both the severe mistreatment of the natural world, the hubris that blinds people to what is truly important in their lives. It also creates the perfect environment for unbreakable community and commonality.
‘Terrestrials’ is a real accomplishment for Pond. If you’re a long time fan of the band, it may sound rather unassuming and perhaps “basic”. There is a steadiness to the pacing of these songs though, a clearly keen ear for tastefully employed sonic textures. The guitars lack the *fuzz* of their prior works, and I think that’s on purpose. This album sits in a brand new category, it is their ultra-straight swing at a catchy pop rock album. It could’ve been a disaster, revealing a bigger gap in their capabilities not previously noticed. It appears from observation that their years spent plodding through winding progressions, experimenting with tones and tactility, and attempting the rare radio hit have paid dividends. This is them refining all that they’ve learned, and producing a serious level-up release. The bigger challenge is maintenance, though if I know anything about Pond, it’s that the first thing you should be expecting is always the last thing you’d expect.
Dan Will Review 