7 Essential Songs from Pond You Have to Know Before Their Concert in Jakarta!
If you have been living under a rock, then you might not know that psychedelic act from Australia, Pond are going to perform in Indonesia this November. Sonic Live Asia is the promoter behind the coming of the band which was formed in 2008. If you are not familiar with this band, it is time to catch up with them. The band can be said as the younger brother of Tame Impala and often share the same members with the former band. Jay Watson is a full time members of both bands, while Nicholas (Nick) Allbrook contributed to the band as the vocalist. Kevin Parker, Cam Avery and Julien Barbagallo were also known as the former members of Pond, in which Parker decided to take a step back to become the record producer of this fourpiece. Nick Allbrook, Jay Watson, Joe Ryan and Jamie Terry are currently embarking on a tour to promote their latest album “The Weather”. They are scheduled to perform in Jakarta on Sunday, 26 November 2017 at The Pallas, SCBD. The ticket for the concert is up on StubHub Indonesia but beforehand, shall we check out their most essential songs to date? Let’s go through their discography in no particular order….
- Waiting Around for Grace
This song is one of the lead single of Pond’s sixth studio album in 2015 titled “Man It Feels Like Space Again”. The album is a critically acclaimed psychedelic rock record that catapulted Pond into the big league. The album managed to gain the 15th position at the end of the year of Australian charts or known as ARIA, and acknowledged as one of the best album in 2015 by renown music magazine, NME. Currently holding its position as the most streamed song by Pond on Spotify, it isn’t hard to fall in love with the charm of “Waiting Around for Grace”. The mellow tune with its echoing voice and lots of sound effect gives off an effect of trance in the beginning. Do not let it fool you though, because this song is the one we can rock and roll to! Nick Allbrook and Jay Watson exchange verses making this song sounds as lively as ever.
2. Xanman
The song is taken from their 5th album in 2013 called “Hobo Rocket”. It is described by Nick Allbrook as, “…kind of mindset of finding our own little place in music, and being more of a functioning band, which is what makes it noisier and denser. This one we went as brutally hard as we would at a show. We wanted the songs to sound loose and live.” The second track is one of our favorite from the album, eventhough they rarely perform this song live. It is rock and roll on acid and has compelling old vibe to it. From this album, Pond tend to perform “Giant Tortoise” live instead. But hey, we can hope right?
3. Don’t Look At The Sun Or You’ll Go Blind
This one track is what it takes to like Pond on the first listen. The song taken from their debut album “Psychedelic Mango” is fun to be performed live. The debut album was released in both physical (2009) and digital (2010) through record label Badminton Bandit. The instrumentals are interesting and Jay Watson delivered a tight packed drum action. They performed this song on their KEXP session, and it turned out even better than the original track. Check this version here.
4. Man It Feels Like Space Again
Okay, we admit to choose two songs from the same album but if this track is left out, then we should not do this list altogether *dramatic music playing in the background*. So, they introduce this album first to American audience with their tour in 2015 upon much enthusiastic response from the listeners. Mixed by Kevin Parker, this record spawned several hits and this one is the most famous one. The song builds up to a dramatic climax and it has an odd puppet music video to boost. The visual is what happened when Sesame Street casts took acid together and then filmed their scenes. It is just so weird, but we can not stop listening to it.
5. Sweep Me Off My Feet
“The Weather” is the latest record by Pond which was out back in May. The first song from the album is “Sweep Me Off My Feet” which has a strong Tame Impala feel to it. If Kevin sang this song, we would not be able to tell the difference at all. The melodies are tightly put, it does not have odd dynamics like their previous singles. Released under Marathon Artist, the album received a higher score from critics alike and this track is the most easy listening one from Pond to date. The visual contains lots of symbolism about perfect life with Jesus, happy family, perfect job and you can dissect it deeper, but we choose to enjoy it instead.
6. Paint Me Silver
Still taken from their latest album “The Weather”, “Paint Me Silver” sounds like the cleanest record from the band. It is less raw as they tone down their psychedelic sound effect by a lot and opted to go in a more funk/disco direction with lots of light synths. Once again, it sounds like Tame Impala’s latest record “Currents” but with a more mild edge. The video makes it up for it though, it is the most bizarre thing ever with naked alien animation, dancing mohawk robots, galaxies and many more. Watch it here…
7. You Broke My Cool
Not every track is fit to have a guitar solo in the beginning, and “You Broke My Cool” is one of the suitable song in our opinion. Since the beginning, a wave of guitar, layers of synth, and drum welcome us to the realms of Pond’s fourth album “Beard, Wives, Denim”. The track goes into a more melancholic route towards the end, signifying that this person is really breaking our cool and we are weak in front of them. This is probably going to be an anthem for us who fall in love desperately while knowing the fact that this person is waaaaay out of our leagues. That hits the spot too close, well take a listen to this song below.
Notable mention : “Elvis’ Flaming Star”
