Pond have released Terrestrials, their 11th studio album and the latest chapter in the Australian psych-rock band’s ever-evolving catalogue.
This time, they set themselves a challenge. No fuzz petal. No ballads. No “Pink Floyd shit.” Instead, Terrestrials draws on Australian pub rock and post-punk, trading sprawling psych jams for a tighter, more urgent sound.
For band members Nick Allbrook, Jay Watson, Joe Ryan, Jamie Terry, and James Ireland, Terrestrials marks another bold step forward for Pond.
The album features standout track “Skyworks”, which explores the tension between Australia Day celebrations and the painful history behind the date.
The band’s frontman Nick Allbrook says the song was inspired by the annual fireworks display over Perth’s Swan River.
“The skyworks happen every year on the day Australia was invaded and claimed by the crown. They explode over the river in a gaudy display of drunkenness and patriotism, sponsored by the Lotto. We love a flutter,” he says.
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Allbook thinks the spectacle reflects the contradictions at the heart of modern Australia.
“The river is bejewelled with magical glittering lights, and loud bangs that remind some of canons and muskets,” he continues. “The river is ablaze, magic, filthy, like a Hieronymus Bosch picture, strewn with bottles and shit in the morning. It’s a confusing time for a confused people.”
Like much of Pond’s catalogue, Terrestrials explores people, place, and identity. Across 10 tracks, the band take on weighty themes such as extractive capitalism, inequality, Indigenous incarceration, environmental destruction, and hope, while drawing on inspiration from a distinctly Australian landscape.
The new album arrives ahead of another big international tour for Pond.
The Aussie band will headline dates across North America before joining Djo for a run of shows through July to September, including a stop at New York’s Forest Hills Stadium.
Pond’s Terrestrials is out now.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source au.rollingstone.com ’
