Stung!＜限定盤/Splatter Bee Vinyl＞

テーム・インパラの兄弟と呼ばれるオーストラリアのサイケ・ポップ・バンド。3年ぶりとなる新作が登場。サイケデリックとファンクを融合させた彼ららしいグルーブのあるロックサウンドは、より壮大になって戻って来ました。70年代のロックの雰囲気とファンクが持つグルーヴそれらをこの時代のセンスでまとめ上げた傑作の誕生です。

Australian psych-pop band Pond continue evolving on their tenth studio album, Stung! At this point, Pond had gelled from something of a collective to a more solidified group, and on this album their technical musicianship and hunger for unpredictable stylistic twists merge with an affinity for big, declarative synth sounds and the type of hooks you might have found on the FM dial in 1986. From the gentle, slightly jazzy guitar chords that open the album on "Constant Picnic" to the driving, anthemic chorus of "(Im) Stung" to the quasi-funk party grooves and slap bass of "So Lo," Pond bring subtle echoes of Tears for Fears, Oingo Boingo, Peter Gabriel, and even a little bit of Prince when the squiggly synth leads kick in. They dont forsake their misty psychedelic roots completely, however. The eight-minute epic "Edge of the World, Pt. 3" moves through gentle, bucolic melodies into more Pink Floyd-indebted distortion, eventually breaking down into a syncopated Krautrock-styled synth sequence midway through its journey before ending in euphoric rock explosions. Stung! is yet another hard-to-categorize but easy-to-enjoy chapter in Ponds ever-changing story. Its full of melodies made for both sunny summer days and solitary, reflective walks, and often changes gears with little notice. ~ Fred Thomas