Matt Pond PA - Emblems
Reviewing music can be troublesome, particularly when you hear a CD that sounds like music the FBI played during the siege at Waco. With an album as good as Emblems, Matt Pond PA is in no danger of ever suffering such a fate.
Reviewing music can be a difficult endeavor, as many of the submissions that I receive would be better used as snack treats for a goat; and one with a less than finicky palette. Yet, I am intrinsically optimistic and steadfast in my search for quality music. After opening a number of rumpled, brown envelops and receiving the equivalent of musical apples for a Capra aegagrus, I came upon the new disc by Matt Pond PA titled Emblems. I am pleased to say this record is in no danger of winding up in the belly of a creature that makes a sound resembling bah.
This is the seventh release from the band and its first rate adult alternative rock in the vein of Death Cab for Cutie and Pete Yorn. Like these other artists, Matt Pond delivers thoughtful, melodic music but their poetic themes are often more abstract. The opening track is the superb “KC” that features a memorable verse melody. The lyrics address some Canadian points of interest, as well as a body under a maple tree, which appears to be a metaphor for something but who the hell knows what it is. In similar intangible fashion, “Lily Two” is a hauntingly beautiful song presenting this odd passage:
“Who knows what right
Lily you don’t have to when you see the moon
You trust it’s light
The crickets sing loud
Lily you can hear it in their voices
how you’ve made them proud”
Now I have no clue what this means either but damn it, I love the song anyway. Lead singer Pond also sings morose songs about awkward sex, relationships gone wrong and lamentations about life’s poor choices. But don’t trust me, I once tried to read Ulysses by James Joyce and never found the part about the Trojan Horsy. It should be up to the intrepid listener to read the lyric sheets and decide the meaning they believe the artist intended. I much prefer this to being hit over the head with some heavy handed message.
The record closes with “KC, Part Two,” a song that is dark and moody but melodically accessible while maintaining artistic quality. In fact, the beauty of this effort is that there are several radio friendly songs including “KC,” “Closest” and my favorite song “Lily Two;” yet I believe there is nothing calculated in the song writing. It is sincere material presented without pretension or overly slick production.
Yes, reviewing music can be troublesome, particularly when you hear a CD that sounds like music the FBI played during the siege at Waco. With an album as good as Emblems, Matt Pond PA is in no danger of ever suffering such a fate.
(Altitude Records)