Pond

It's impossible to talk about Pond without mentioning Tame Impala. Both Jay Watson and Nick Allbrook play in the Western Australian psych group and Tame Impala mastermind Kevin Parker mixed the band's fourth record, Beard, Wives, Denim. Pond don't stray too far from the psychedelic sounds of Tame Impala, but the trio (rounded out by Joseph Ryan) let loose on opener "Fantastic Explosion of Time," which owes as much to the Troggs as the 13th Floor Elevators. But songs like "When It Explodes" and "Elegant Design" show there's more than meets the ear, with detours into '70s prog-rock space jams. If Watson and Allbrook learned anything from playing with Parker, it was the musical alchemy necessary to fuse disparate influences into something new. Like its simplistic title, it's tempting to label Beard, Wives, Denim as a tossed off side-project that doesn't stray too far from its more famous parent band. But Pond have something more to offer and both fans and detractors of Tame Impala should give this a listen.