Customer Reviews

Lapsed

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If any band (including the great shoegaze acts of past and present) throws up a bigger, more ferocious wall of sound, I've not heard them. There's not much here in the way of Ash Ra Tempel/Acid Mother's lead guitar jamming; the emphasis is on the virtuosic, monolithically heavy rhythm guitar of the Gibbons brothers and Isobel Sollenberger's processed, disembodied rants and chants. Tommy Gun Angel and Flux are much more intense, distorted and messed up than you can begin to gather from the 30 second clips above. A lot of early psychedelic music seems to be based on the premise that you can change the world if you walk around putting flowers in all the right places. The Pond' style of psychedelia seems to be based more on the premise that you can change the world by running over all the jerks in it with a dump truck. Drive On!

Well, after doing a review of their latest "official" release Dilate, I decided to toss my two cents in the ring for Lapsed as well, mainly because I think that, as someone elsewhere stated, this is a perfect starting point for people whose ears haven't been exposed to the Pond. Lapsed is somewhat shorter than either Amanita or Dilate (two absolutley essential albums in their own right) and offers up a nice blend of sounds including some acoustic guitar.
The album kicks off (I should say KICKS OFF!!!) with "Tommy Gun Angel", a song that is so amazingly heavy it still rings in my ears. Completely elevates the tuned in listener to another realm of consciousness. I am not exaggerating. These guys (and girl) have hit on some sonic formula that I hope carries them through the next couple of decades of output. As another reviewer wrote, this is psychedelia completely devoid of nostalgia for a bygone era. It is the NOW SOUND, kiddos. Don't let another day go by without owning this one.

bardo pond's subaquatic, super-heavy psychedelia has kept me riveted ever since i chanced to track down their first LP, 'bufo alvarius' on the recommendation that it sounded like robert hampson's loop...well, that was an inaccurate comparison for the most part, but the album grew on me, and bardo seemed to be very focused and intelligent, in spite of having brains so drug-addled that they should all be vegetables...

i am not a fan of most psychedelia...i've laughed at sundial releases, with their 60s vibe and ridiculous lyrics and attempts to "rock"...i have no interest in the wankery and retro groovery of most psych-acts today...it's tired, stooopid in the dimmest rock n roll sense of the word, and hopelessly out of touch...

but bardo pond continues to somehow evade such traps record after record...'amanita' was a glorious trip, dark and dreamy and what one would hope a psychedelic band would sound like if they were aware of the decade (hear me, sundial??)

they followed that with 'lapsed', and fearlessly chucked the dreaminess of 'amanita' (see "tapir song") for the heaviest thing i've heard in a while (justin broadrick of godflesh would be impressed, methinks)...the songs on 'lapsed' are amazing slabs of sound, at turns terrifying, soaring, snarling, and downright beautiful...

you see, the pond has little patience for retro-fitting their sound, or staying with one idea...the monstrous "flux" is hypnotic, and so low-end you expect to accidentally soil yourself..."green man" is one the of loveliest instrumentals i've ever heard with guitars involved...the gibbons brothers are in love with wah-wah, distortion, and all that, but they are so damn savvy and in love with making FRESH music that any kind of stale flavor is eradiciated right away...

the hammering blues of "straw dog", in which isobel rants rather than murmurs (i like both) such pearls as "i f**ked myself" (goodness gracious!) is followed by an wonderful, long tripped out song called "aldrin" where the bardos revisit the lengthy "amen" from 'bufo alvarius' and manage to make a compelling ten-plus minute song, which erupts in absolute chaos and offers the best musical version of the moment before sexual climax i've heard...the music builds unbearably for just a little too long before isobel coos "swing back in..." (or something like that) and the song returns...the sex metaphor is tiresome, i know, but take a listen and maybe you'll see what i mean...

it's astoundingly successful music, and bardo pond is spinebending live as well...one need not be a fan of drugs or psych-rock (i am not) to enjoy this...they are one of only a few american bands i think are worthy of paying attention to...so keep your 'tortoise' and 'malkmus'...gimme some more bardo pond...

No other Bardo Pond track that I'm aware of lays down the fuzz as heavily as the Gibbons brother pushing his guitar to the highest level of distortion on "Tommy Gun Angel", the opening cut on their third proper release , "Lapsed" ( I count "Big Laughing Jym" as an EP); it's like walking through a field of newly-sprouted seedling dandelions on a breezy day wearing a pair of static-laden jeans and having each fluffy-white strand stick to the area between your cuff and your knee - it's that pervasive.

This CD marked a definite transition in the 'Pond's overall musical direction, serving as a precursor to "Set and Setting", while retaining some of the sinuous riffing run through the effects pedals of the Brothers Gibbons. The overall vibe on "Lapsed" is one of claustrophobia; the guitars, especially on "Tommy Gun Angel" and "Flux", seemed to be discharging a distortive field of electricity rather than the looser,levitational, saturative tones heard on "Adhesive", from their first release, and "Limerick" from "Amanita", their second. "Big Laughing Jym", technically their second release but centered around a number of outtakes rather than original material recorded specifically for a discrete CD, is an obvious reference point here, with its adherence to a more unstructured, lumbering sound ; however, the production values of "Lapsed" prevent this from becoming more than a sometime occurrence, and one that appears purposeful when employed (most obviously on "Straw Dogs" and "Tommy Gun Angel", less so on "Anandine").

Isobel Sollenberger's vocals are kept low in the mix, essentially turning her voice into just another instrument, and on "Pick My Brain" run it through effects to achieve maximum disorientation, capping off a cut that is in danger of becoming unhinged from the first note. Her flute also serves as a sort of auditory tunnel through "Flux" though it is not used to the wide and resonant effect it achieved on "Amanita", "Lapsed"s immediate predecessor. Both "Green Man" and "Aldrin"( the track which closes "Lapsed") returns the listener briefly to the contemplative, purposeful droning of "Amanita", but on "Aldrin" the Brothers Gibbons can't resist allowing the song to devolve into waves of assaultive distortion (which isn't necessarily a bad thing here). Some critics argue that "Lapsed" is the release where Bardo Pond's music began to take shape as well as form, but if it is, it is the shape and form of heavy thunderheads, booming and threatening at times to become absolutely cacophonous.

I have been listening to this band for only a few months, and I have managed to pick up about everything they have recorded (including stuff only availabe at shows, etc.). They are very consistent, so it's hard to really recommend one album over another. I would say this one, Amanita, Set & Setting, and Bufo Alvarius are the best. The music is thick, but it still somehow washes over you gently at the same time. Comparisons are often made to bands like Sonic Youth, but I think Bardo Pond has forged their own hybrid of psychedelia/soulfulness/sensuality. It's easy to get lost in the music.

you pretty much said most of what i was going to say, so i'll just support on here another vote.

this is the first bardo pond album i bought, i recommend it as a great starting place if you want to get into a type of neo-psychadelia literally from somewhere else. so distorted yet so bliss. this band is absolutley one of kind

if you already know what they're about & were purchasing your first bardo pond album, i'd personally recommend lapse or set & setting, both have some very memorable tracks(or as i like to call them, "experiences") & as a whole are nothing short of wonderful.

definately one of the best bands that i've heard in awhile. their on my top 5

...trying to navigate a Piper Cub through the heart of an oatmeal-storm. LAPSED is nowhere near as compelling as its predecessor (AMANITA). I found most of it I too dense to get through. Hope the new one (August '99) is more listenable.