Pond

The Practice of Joy Before Death (Sub Pop)
by Joshua Brown

What does the name Pond evoke for you? A place unspoiled by human ideas and ambitions. Diverse life forms feeding on each other or soaking up the rich ingredients in the water, each creature singing its own special song. On the surface, Pond may not sound unusual for semi-underground rock from the Northwest, but they set themselves apart from their not-so-original counterparts by letting their music flow naturally, unfettered by preconceived notions. In their own words, “the side of the barn where no one goes, welcoming the weeds.”

People have always had a particular fondness for schools of thought which use light-hearted folk tales to expound spiritual truths, without spelling it out. This approach adds longevity to the idea and playfully gives it a life of its own. Pond fit into this category, musically, by giving us very upbeat material that is anything but superficial. A deeply personal musical work which deserves to outlive its genre of fairly mainline alterna-rock.