POND Vinyl & CDs

Review: Pond started out 2020 by laying down a load of impromptu recordings and unplanned jam session which they have now pulled apart and rebuilt into this new album, 9. It flies by like a stream of electronic indie rock consciousness with barely a moment to pause and take stock. It is packed with references from intergalactic rock operas to bubbling synth pop, 80s hair metal and even some sultry sax and glam rock. The music is certainly something new for the band in many places, but will still appeal to old fans as well as winning new ones.

Review: Australian band Pond have been releasing music for over a decade now, with a hot streak of releases for Modular throughout the Twenty-Tens, and following earlier releases for Badminton Bandit and Canyon's Hole In The Sky imprint, they return to Marathon Artists with their latest (and eighth) album. The Perth band's sound lands somewhere between Cut Copy and Tame Impala, with plenty of contemporary shoegazing, synth pop and folk sounds to experience across its 10 tracks. Delivering an ode to Australia's secret state on its title track that hints at John Farnham inspirations too, our highlight is the moody blues on "Goodnight, PCC".

Review: These Aussie psych-voyagers have here broadened their horizons considerably from their more garage-inclined early days - Kevin Parker from Tame Impala may have produced 'The Weather', yet if anything this is a showcase for a band with the character, imagination and charisma to easily escape that outfit's shadow. With nods to the likes of Prince and The Flaming Lips, these ditties are overburdened by memorable hooks, electronic textures and wide-eyed wonder, forming an endorphin-boosting assault from a band forging forward in uncompromising and colourful style.

Review: These Aussie psych-voyagers have here broadened their horizons considerably from their more garage-inclined early days - Kevin Parker from Tame Impala may have produced 'The Weather', yet if anything this is a showcase for a band with the character, imagination and charisma to easily escape that outfit's shadow. With nods to the likes of Prince and The Flaming Lips, these ditties are overburdened by memorable hooks, electronic textures and wide-eyed wonder, forming an endorphin-boosting assault from a band forging forward in uncompromising and colourful style.