Pond - The Weather

Rating:

Further proof that the psych renaissance is in safe hands Down Under.

In these downright ridiculous times in which we all inhabit, it seems like escapism has rarely been more necessary.

So, what better way to get the hell out of here than by jumping into the back of a fuzz pedal-powered rocket, piloted by four slightly mad Aussie blokes?

Pond have seized the moment and made ‘The Weather’ - a clever concept album that looks down on the chaos unfolding below with twelve soaring psych-rock tunes, full of well-crafted hooks and smart lyrics.

And it all begins with ‘Armageddon’.

Released on the day Donald Trump won the US presidency, 30,000 Megatons sees frontman Nicholas Allbrook describe the human race as nothing more than a horde of vacuous zombies who can no longer be saved from themselves.

Backed by a brooding synth sequence, there’s a great line about the man on the Moon wielding a shotgun to defend himself from an impending Earth invasion, leaving humans to turn back and see out their days with just Tinder and Xanax.

It’s one of the record’s highlights, and it’s closely followed by another in the form of ‘Sweep Me Off My Feet’ - an infectious psych-pop track which questions society’s idea of masculinity. The song, with its joyous, festival-ready chorus, is possibly the most accessible Pond have concocted.

Elsewhere, ‘Paint Me Silver’ provides dreamy, Primal Scream-flavoured pop, while ‘Colder Than Ice’ sounds a little like how ABC might have done had Martin Fry licked the back of frog he’d discovered during a gap year in the Australian Outback in the summer of 1980.

The album does run out of rocket fuel as it reaches its conclusion - ‘A/B’ seems to meander aimlessly after an encouraging start, while ‘Zen Automaton’ sounds a little laboured - but on the whole, it’s a solid record which feels likes a step forward for the Tame Impala offshoot.

It’s further proof that the psych renaissance is in safe hands Down Under. Alex Thorp