Founded and led by primary member and creative mastermind Jay Watson, Pond is a Perth, Australia-based psych rock band that features a rotating casts of musicians including Tame Impala frontman and primary member Kevin Parker and several members of his touring band, often interchangeably. As the story goes, Watson devised the project as a way to collaborate with a number of local musicians and friends whenever they wanted to and whenever they were available.
The project’s full-length 2009 debut Psychedelic Mango reportedly consisted of material that possessed elements of psych rock and pop but by the their third full-length, 2010’s Frond, the project had increasingly taken on a heavier pop sound. Their 2012 release Beard, Wives, Denim was their breakthrough and was released to international praise — and interestingly enough, the material on that effort was written and recorded after the release of Tame Impala’s breakthrough album Innerspeaker. And much like with what happened with Tame Impala’s seminal album, the members of Pond found themselves touring internationally to support Beard, Wives, Denim including an appearing at that year’s SXSW and a one off show with Can‘s Damo Suzuki, a major influence on Watson and his sound.
“Sweep Me Off My Feet,” is the first bit of new material from the band since last year’s Man, It Feels Like Space Again and interestingly enough the single sounds as though it could have been a Tame Impala B side — and that’s not a terrible thing, really. Sonically speaking, the band pairs boom-bap like drums, layers of buzzing synths, chiming percussion, plaintive falsetto vocals, buzzing yet bluesy guitar solo and an anthemic hook in a slow-burning and trippy bit of psych pop that possesses an urgent, carnal need and vulnerability underneath it’s arena rock swagger. Unsurprisingly, “Sweep Me Off My Feet” is also the first single from the band’s forthcoming, Kevin Parker produced, untitled full-length album slated for release in early 2017.
But in the meantime, the band will be embarking on a Western Hemisphere tour that will include stops in the US, Mexico and South America. Check out tour dates below.
TOUR DATES:
Oct 16 – Desert Daze – Joshua Tree, CA
Oct 17 – Teragram Ballroom – Los Angeles, CA
Oct 18 – The Independent – San Francisco, CA
Oct 21 – Sala Corona – Mexico City, MEXICO
Oct 22- Coordenada Festival- Guadalajara MEXICO
Oct 24 – Rock & Roll Hotel – Washington DC
Oct 25 – Underground Arts – Philadelphia, PA
Oct 26 – Music Hall of Williamsburg – Brooklyn, NY
Oct 28 – Great Scott – Boston, MA
Nov 03 – Bizarro – Lima, Peru
Nov 05 – Blondie – Santiago, Chile
Nov 06 – Niceto Club – Buenos Aires, Argentina