Ticket Crystals
Bardo Pond
Published by Under The Radar
Ticket
Crystals
Bardo Pond
Published by Under The Radar
As
a dedicated fan of the space rock, I’m always looking for another fix
of round-bottom starsailing. Philadelphia’s Bardo Pond, one of the subgenre’s
contemporary faithful, have been good at giving me most of what I need. Ticket
Crystals, their sixth full-length, is a more satisfying step following
2003’s darkly lethargic On the Ellipse. Here the electric sections
are meatier, and the whole thing wreaks less emotional undertow. The 18-minute
“FC II” brings the slow, airy meditation of an old Verve jam, staying
strong despite a four-note bass cycle that could stand a detour or two. “Moonshine”
continues that tradition, building a rich acoustic-electric wash and layering
singer/flautist Isobel Sollenberger’s vocals, which aren’t always
stellar, on a single track. A cover of John Lennon’s White Album
beauty “Cry Baby Cry,” recorded for the BBC to commemorate the 25th
anniversary of the Beatle’s death, brings nothing new (save for a tacked-on
coda) and should have been a flipside. But virtually all others are solid to
superb, not least closer “Montana Sacra II,” which unfurls nearly
11 minutes of fret-squeezing noise à la pals Sonic Youth. When all’s
said and done, my small beef with this otherwise great band remains: the production
needs more rocket fuel. And that goes not only for mix-desk polish but performances
as well. John and Michael Gibbons’ guitar work should be forever free,
but I’d like a stronger rhythmic foundation. While he surely has his reasons,
drummer Ed Farnsworth often sounds like he’s phoning it in. Bardo Pond’s
is a music of aural immersion, and at this point stepping it up in the studio
would hardly be a compromise.