Recorded way back in 2010 – Tame Impala’s Joseph Ryan, Nick Allbrook and Jay Watson have finally got their act together with their side project Pond – allowing their fourth album Beard Wives Denim to see the light of day.
Although Beard Wives Denim is definitely a different beast compared to the loose, jam-like material the boys churn out in Tame Impala, this is not the straight-up rock record which band member Jay Watson describes it as.
There are cosmic, free-flowing sequences in When It Explodes, hints of trippy surf vibes in Elegant Design, and bluesy pop sounds in You Broke My Cool and Alergies – which you’ll either dig or just want to skip over depending on your mood.
On the upside, a number of tracks tick all the right boxes in the latter half of the record. New single Moth Wings is a fuzz-filled and appealing track, and Leisure Pony’s driving rhythms sound like an outtake from a Them Crooked Vultures record. Meanwhile, the mix of spaced-out guitar work and keys on Eye Pattern Blindness sounds like Wolfmother with added pyschadelics.
Indeed, Beard Wives Denim seems right at home on a triple j playlist, and if you aren’t an alternative music fan, you probably won’t dig this record.
But for those of you who do, you should find Beard Wives Denim to be a very handy companion to tie you over before the new Tame Impala album drops later this year – and one that sounds pretty respectable considering it was recorded partially in a toilet and thrown together in a week.
Beard Wives Denim is out on Friday, March 2 through Modular.
