Should we put into place a set number of albums a band is allowed to release? Four and out, maybe. Get over the infamous difficult second album, enjoy it for a bit and head off the album five identity crisis at the pass, skipping the complete delusion behind album seven and the dead-horse flogging of albums eight and nine entirely. Let’s not talk about album 10.
Unless you’re Pond. Built from pure commitment to their psychedelic surfer brand, ‘Stung!’ brings up double figures in remarkable style, emitting sparkling decadence from the off and boasting some of the Australian band’s most intoxicating material yet.
Neon River uses monolithic, transcendent structural riffage to contain its intriguing shapelessness, rich with psychedelic twists, while Black Lung shadily shoulders its way in, its muscularity powered by 1000 proof space juice.
Elsewhere, Pond explore the moodier, swaggering edges of psych-rock, without ever neglecting a sense of vulnerability. At this point the quintet are pros, playing around with drum machines pressed against murky synths, peeling back layers of their own creativity in a genre that has been hung upside down to bleed out.
Edge of the World Pt.3’s sonics are reminiscent of Tyler, The Creator’s ‘Flower Boy’ production, rolling around in an ecstatic reverie. Throughout its eight minutes, Pond go from a roaring campfire to a smouldering sense of calm. ‘Stung!’ is the work of a brand breaking through the ceiling to set a fresh benchmark — it’s not a flex, it’s a celebration.
POND Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Tue September 24 2024 - SOUTHAMPTON Papillon
Thu September 26 2024 - MANCHESTER Gorilla
Fri September 27 2024 - LEEDS Wardrobe
Sat September 28 2024 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Grove
Sun September 29 2024 - GLASGOW King Tuts
Tue October 01 2024 - BIRMINGHAM XOYO
Wed October 02 2024 - BRISTOL Thekla
Thu October 03 2024 - LONDON Electric Ballroom
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