Pond 1000 have managed to do something nigh on impossible: They’ve transcended the cliched world of shoegazing. Theirs is a unique, immediately recognizable sound: Jarring bursts of dissonance lull hallucinatory, surrealistic vocals into further levels of trance, creating a blurred, dreamlike effect.
sugar cube/small cloud remains their masterpiece: Several eerie melodies ebb and flow as the song slowly turns into a crepuscular nightmare. rivulet apes that style (with, unfortunately, some weak drum work). The generic indie drumming continues on that mall was mine, rendering the song almost unlistenable. The title track, on the other hand, builds from its naive and trivial beginnings into something powerful and majestic. The somber, moody lie-la-phone unnecessarily morphs into a sort of pop song halfway through, yet the track is still effective overall. the shelf frames some impressive guitar work around a typically haunting refrain. feed the dust starts rather uneventfully before turning into a hypnotic, disorienting mantra.
All in all, this is an impressive album. Guitar chaos blends with eerie songwriting and cryptically detached vocals to create something sublime and surreal.
Rating: 4/5 stars
• • •
Brett Abrahamsen is a lifelong connoisseur of the experimental and obscure. He is also a science fiction writer (and an amateur philosopher of sorts). He resides in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
