Tracklist:

1. Destroying Angel
2. Isle
3. Lost Word
4. Cry Baby Cry
5. FC II
6. Moonshine
7. Endurance
8. Montana Sacra II

Bardo Pond occupies a rather unique place in the realm of space rock. They’re not as heavy or experimental as some of their peers like Acid Mothers Temple or Fushitsusha but still far enough out there that fans of more popular bands like Mogwai or Godspeed You! Black Emperor may be hesitant to embrace their music. The same raw aggressive power that gives weight to their epic freak outs and prevents their songs from being dull, stagnant dirges leaves some possible fans wanting for a more polished effort. Ticket Crystals is their sixth official studio release (they have released a number of jam sessions on cd-r’s in the past) and for the most part this album continues in the same vein as their past releases.

Within the first 30 seconds of opener “Destroying Angel” it is clear that Bardo Pond isn’t ready to polish anything. Huge distorted guitars play slow heavy riffs, rolling thunderous drums and on top of it all Isobel Sollenberger’s eerie multi-tracked vocals enchant while highlighting the band’s recent shift towards focusing on the mood of their tracks. The next track, “Isle”, strips away the aggressiveness of the first track and instead is content to sit back and develop a mood of reflective sadness. “Lost Word” feels like a filler track as it neither rocks out nor establishes any discernible mood and the transition between it and the next track, Beatles cover “Cry Baby Cry”, seems a bit abrupt.

“Cry Baby Cry” was originally recorded as part of the BBC One World tribute to the Beatles White Album commemorating the 25th anniversary of John Lennon’s passing. It’s the most upbeat song here and easily one of the best. The band has done an admirable job of retaining the feel of the original while creating something that sounds distinctly like Bardo Pond. “Moonshine” is another highlight, establishing itself as a pleasant spaced out pop tune before being bombarded with a maelstrom of guitars and drums.

Elsewhere the band really stretches their legs on “Fc II”with a more restrained spaced out sound not unlike Sunburned Hand of the Man circa Headress. The song is a bit of a chore to sit through, but it nevertheless does a fairly decent job of establishing a groove and sticking with it, with slight variations, over its 20 minute runtime. Despite suffering a little from a lack of continuity and a bit of filler, Ticket Crystals continues in the same direction outlined by Dilate and On the Ellipse. Bardo Pond continues to incorporate more acoustic instrumentation but at the same time sounding as heavy as ever. Their place amongst the other space rock bands remains safe for the time being.

MP3 Sample:
Cry Baby Cry

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 8th, 2006 at 10:01 am and is filed under Record Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Edit this entry.