Terrestrials

About

Ten albums into their shared musical journey, the five members of Pond decided on a few rules for <i>Terrestrials</i>: no fuzz pedals, no ballads, and no “Pink Floyd shit.” They also nurtured the guiding concept of “goths at the pub,” balancing jangly 1980s Australiana with moodier post-punk motifs. The resulting album is more focused and compact than usual for the free-ranging Perth ensemble, while still allowing for plenty of playful quirks. The specter of Midnight Oil looms over both the slow-build opener, “Skyworks,” and the confrontational “Two Hands,” on which Nick Allbrook channels his ire about the destruction of Western Australia’s Juukun Gorge—a sacred space for local First Nations communities—into scrappy provocation via the lines “I’ll meet you on the corner of my street” and “Our two hands can make a fist.” Other tracks lock into synth-forward softness and tight, brash rock, either individually or at the same time. Named for a site near Broome in Western Australia, “Roebuck Plains” plays like a twinkling spin on power pop, while “Personal Hell” offsets its dreamy ’80s signifiers with quite caustic lyrics. This is a hooky yet layered outing for Pond, anchored by seething frustration and a firm sense of place.

via Apple Music