I bought my first Pond album in college. I dug it. It was glossy and sly. Goldcard is Pond’s Charlie Campbell six years after his old band’s demise. Bizarrely reclusive, the guy tried to drop out of the music scene all together, but was dragged back into the light by some of the folks from Grandaddy and Quasi to release this album. Granted, he performed at his listening parties from inside a cardboard box with a slit in it. This effort doesn’t go far afield from Pond in tone and musicality, although it is a bit more melodic and nostalgic. One of my favorite songs in a long time, “Rabbit,” has an awesome indie rock sound that recalls an amalgamation of terrific tunes of the past. There are a couple bizarro tracks on here–including some sort of Asian disco thing–but overall the album makes me grateful that Campbell’s friends decided to make him release this stuff to the public. I have no idea if this is the last we’ve heard from him, but with Beach Boys meets indie rock meets maudlin pop thing he has going on, I’d be excited to see what he comes out with next.
10
