And even that hasn't changed much. Pondrelocated his band from Philadelphia to Brooklyn seven years ago, so they've technically beenMatt Pond NY for more than half their existence. But if you have a good thinggoing, why change it?
If you have a good album going, whychange it? If you have a good song going, why change it? Matt Pond PA hasoccupied the same conceptual space over hundreds of songs across eight albumsand seven EPs. The chords change and so might the tempos, but it's hard not tothink Matt Pond hasn't been coming up with variations of the same track, timeand again, for more than a decade.
That's a very good thing.
Change is rarely as good as people makeit out to be. Matt Pond PA has a rare talent for consistently turning out someof the best Matt Pond PA music ever recorded. Look for the best music with ablend of cello, blue-collar vocals and a melancholy, hookless jangle pop core,and find his entire catalog. Done.
“I can't pretend to be someone else,”Pond says. “I think that there's a perception that it's easy to be someoneelse.”
And why would he? No one goes to a Forddealership to buy a toaster; no one goes to Denny's for major surgery. “Niche”doesn't have to be a dirty word. Do one thing and perfect it. Matt Pondcertainly has.
To Pond, it is less about the albumsbeing similar and more about the albums forming one cohesive work. “These songsare a progression,” he says, “a processthe whole thing is supposed to stacktogether.”
It may be as difficult as spotting thedifferences between Andy Warhol soup cans, it may take listening to the albumsback to back, but there are subtle differences between records.Thechanges are substantive once you notice them. It just takes some work to do so.The 2005 Winter Songs EP wasdeliberately tinged with the titular season, but it's hard to notice a seasonas a flavor of brooding without comparison. LastLight, from 2007,took directionfrom guests like Neko Case to show breadthat least, breadth for Matt Pond. Andthe new album, The Dark Leaves, is areturn to organic, roots soundsalbeit, a shorter jump for a chamber-pop bandthan for most.
To achieve Dark Leaves'woodsiness,Pond brought his team to record in a cabin in Bearsville, N.Y.Rural enough for its name to be accuratebears routinely knocked over thewoodpiles outside their doorit's an environment that demands albums with atleast one steel guitar. They obliged.Thelocale was a great choice for an album, but not the first choice for manymembers of a New York City-based crew.
“People were walking around withlaptops, hoping that the trees would give off a Wi-Fi signal,” Pond says.
Just as trees inevitably make lousywireless routers, so too did Matt Pond PA inevitably produce an album that wastethered to albums past. But how different should a record named Dark Leaves be from a jaw-dropper named Last Light?
Pond barely considers it.
“I just try to write songs,” he says.
Matt Pond PA and opener Bobby Long play a 9p.m. show at Mad Planet on Monday, May 10.
