perth, late 2008 - three guys in one of their parents' house. 8-track tape, a variety musical instruments and (probably) a bunch of drugs.
that is the story of 2009's Psychedelic Mango, the first album released by australian band Pond, at the time comprising only of 3 members - Nick Allbrook, Jay Watson and Joseph "Shiny Joe" Ryan.
a very garage-y effort, with the idea behind it being "an album of tropical psychedelic idiocy".
a description that i think fits it pretty well.
Psychedelic Mango is very chaotic and intentionally disorganized, surprise unpredictable impromptu jams are aplenty on pretty much every song on the album; and despite there only ever being 3 people playing at one time, it nonetheless delivers that very full sound that you'd expect from this sort of music.
bombastic guitars, drowsy, drowned-out vocals, whatever other sounds they feel like making, all going their own way and yet still working together in harmony,
topped off with that low fidelity coating.
it's a piece that screams pure psychedelic.
"That Is How We Came" is a song for the first half of the track, and then the rest of it is just a cacophany of various noises, capped off with a tease of the next song's riff.
this isn't to say there aren't any moments of groundedness, most songs start off down-to-earth. "Paisley Adams", for example, uncharacteristically doesn't really stray that far from the groundwork laid down at the beginning of the track, and remains pretty similar throughout.
when it comes to the lyrics, they're for the most part nonsensical and mainly there to sound cool, which isn't a bad thing. that is, when they're even legible. for these early albums, pond never really gave out official lyrics, so that, combined with simply the nature of the genre, means that there's a lot of guesswork when it comes to deciphering what the hell it even is they're saying.
take for example, the beginning of the opening track, here's my attempt:
"I AM THE VOICE OF GOD."
"I HAVE COME FOR YOU, HUMANITY"
?????? (i think this is genuinely unintelligible)
"THE LIGHTING IS BROKE UP AT GREAT SPEED"
"WILL COLOR YOUR ENTIRE BALL"
i have two questions.
highlights for me on this album are definitely
"That Is How We Came",
"Don't Look At The Sun Or You'll Go Blind"
and "Bees".
"That Is How We Came", the opening track, has those cool cosmic vibes reminiscent of something like "Astronomy Domine". it's a pretty good representation for what the rest of the album entails.
"Don't Look At The Sun..." is actually one of the only songs from these early albums that they still play live to this day. granted, it's wildly different nowadays than how it is on this album, but the core is still there!
and the final track, "Bees" is like three songs in one i'm pretty sure, at least it ends like three times. it's state is ephemeral, no idea what it is, where it is, how it is, why it is, but i'm loving every moment of it.
ultimately, i think Psychedelic Mango is pretty cool. it's not the most refined, or the most thought-out, or the most touching, but it's very raw.
and i like that!
i like the rawness of it. these guys were making whatever the fuck and managed to create something kinda special. special enough
to record a second album, not too long after.
next up: Corridors Of Blissterday