Australian psych band Pond headlines the Regency Ballroom
While they have not yet ascended to arena-filling heights of sibling Australian psych band Tame Impala, Down Under rock band Pond has a loyal and growing fanbase thanks to the prolific output of principle songwriter Nick Allbrook. Formed in 2008 by Allbrook and fellow Tame Impala member Jay Watson -- TI main man Kevin Parker used to play drums in the band and has produced almost all of their albums -- the Perth-based group started out crafting a much wilder, more unruly style of psychedelic rock.
The band issued a pair of albums through Aussie imprint Badminton Bandit Records that were recorded in a home studio on eight-track before garnering wider recognition from their association with Tame Impala, eventually signing to the larger Australian label Modular Records. While the two bands delve into similar echo-drenched sonic vistas, Pond initially employed far heavier guitar riffs with a funkier, more irreverent approach on 2013's Hobo Rocket. The group veered easily from the delicate, fractured pop of "O Dharma" to the punchy swagger of face-melting tunes like "Xanman" and the title track.
Strangely, that album was actually recorded after Pond decided to temporarily shelve the already completed effort Man, It Feels Like Space Again, which ended up finally being released in 2015. In some ways, the effort presaged Tame Impala's drift into propulsive dance beats and woozy synth sounds that marked TI's biggest hit album so far, Currents.
The band would continue into that more electronic funk/pop direction with The Weather in 2017 and its follow-up companion piece album Tasmania two years later, with Allbrook's soulful vocals and sassy delivery at times recalling classic Prince and Beck as it rode the band's propulsive, still psychedelic grooves. The band also released the live album Sessions ahead of the pandemic shutdown that would curtail Pond's touring activity in 2020.
The following year, the group released its first album not produced by Parker in almost a decade with 9. Another freewheeling exploration of synth-driven funk and expansive neo-psychedelia, the effort became their highest charting record in their native country and was reissued in a deluxe version with four additional tracks in 2022.
After a period of relative quiet, Pond returned to action earlier this year with the release of the soaring new anthem "Neon River," the lead single for their new album Stung! that was released in June. A sprawling, pop-minded double album (the first of the band's career), the effort has garnered the group another round of glowing reviews. After playing a string of dates across Australia supporting Queens of the Stone Age in February, the band returned to the U.S. for a tour featuring stops at the Shakey Knees Festival in Atlanta and the Kilby Court Block Party in Salt Lake City along with select headlining shows at decidedly intimate venues like the New Parish in Oakland. The group returns to the Bay Area to headline the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco Tuesday night. Fazerdaze, the shoegaze-pop project of New Zealand songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Amelia Murray, opens the show with songs from her recent sophomore album Soft Power.
Pond with Fazerdaze
Tuesday, Dec. 3, 8 p.m. $32.50-$65 plus fees
Regency Ballroom
