Since forming in 2008, the Australian psych-rock collective known as Pond has had a revolving cast of musicians and shares quite a few members with Tame Impala. In addition to multi-instrumentalist Jay Watson playing full time for both bands, Kevin Parker used to be the drummer for Pond and continues to produce their albums. Pond has been quite prolific, having released eight albums over a span of ten years. Only six months after the release of their eighth studio album, Tasmania, Pond is releasing their first live album titled Sessions. The recordings took place while the band was touring the EU this past spring.
While Sessions is a collection of live recordings, it is definitely not what one would generally consider a live album. There is an absence of crowd noise and banter that make the album feel more like a collection of alternative takes of past songs. Where “Daisy” includes a jammed-out outro on Tasmania, the live version has a much more succinct ending on Sessions while still keeping the same energy as the studio version. “Paint Me Silver” gets a pumped-up version of the middle instrumental section and “Hand Mouth Dancer” manages to feel even more epic live. The real standouts on Sessions are “Burnt Out Star” and “Man It Feels Like Space Again”, both of which keep the spaced-out jams from the studio versions but managed to crank it up to eleven. However, for fans of Pond, the addition of “Don’t Look at the Sun (Or You’ll Go Blind)” from their debut album Psychedelic Mango is reason enough to check out Sessions. Over the last decade, Pond has stretched the track from its original three minute length to over six minutes with added vocal and instrumental sections.
Sessions is a great way to hear the evolution of Pond’s sound. For new listeners of the band, there is the benefit of being able to hear a retrospective of songs from the band’s career. For longtime fans of the band, there is the added advantage of being able to hear how songs have changed over the years. The live versions on Sessions are fantastic, however, it doesn’t make it obvious that it is a live album.
