The Australian band abandons the psychedelic mists for synths, Roland JC-50 amplifiers and flashy drum machines.
Billy Idol ? The Sisters of Mercy ? Cold Chisel ? On first listen, one might be unsettled by Pond’s influences on this eleventh album, the fruit of a desire to resurrect the smoky pub atmosphere of the 1980s – a glorious decade for Australian rock’n’roll.
After fifteen years of an untroubled journey on the psychedelic circuit, the quintet launched into a demonstration mixing Gothic and post-punk. Genres already manipulated by Pond but used more frontally here, almost theatrically, in order to have a little fun… All while denouncing growing social inequalities, the racism faced by Indigenous people, or the drift of individualism.
Tenacious Synthetic Beats and Electrifying Riffs
Fi, donc, des pédales fuzz et du lo-fi vaporeux. Place aux synthés, aux amplis Roland JC-50, aux boîtes à rythmes clinquantes et au chant un poil poussif de Nicholas Allbrook. Surprise, ça fonctionne !
Between the opening more ravaging than it appears of Skyworks and the laidback conclusion of Nashville (I’m Dying), we are seduced by the tenacious synth beats of The Fatal Shore, the dreamlike bridges of the title track or the electrifying riffs of Personal Hell. And if some tracks flirt with caricature—certainly perfectly executed (Two Hands, Through the Heather)—the Pond-made sound still has its charming effect on Roebuck Plains or Tourmaline.
Terrestrials (Mangovision/Modulor). Release on June 19.
