★★★★★
Aussie psych-rockers make a splash with their tightest album yet. Tame, it ain't... Pond for the last couple of years has been the noise Jay Watson and Nick Allbrook make with likeminded confederates when they aren't touring with Tame Impala. This particular arrangement has made it sometimes seem like Pond are a Tame Impala spin-off, a side project, a kind of hobby, Jay and Nick and their mates going into the studio as the mood vaguely takes them, the equivalent of some blokes retreating to a...
- www.uncut.co.uk
2013-09-25
★★★★★
Pond are and forever will be compared to Tame Impala, with whom they share a few members, and yes they both trade in retro-fitted psychedelic rock but dig below the surface and the two bands are clearly circling different planets. On Hobo Rocket they've pulled back on the overblown eccentricities that were generally to their detriment and produced a concise, freewheeling and fun album...
- www.undertheradar.co.nz
2013-09-25
★★★★★
It can sometimes be difficult to take Pond seriously, with their muddled together but frenetic collage of rock and roll, created by wide-eyed young men abundant with energy and with a devoted grasp of the absurd. With Beard Wives Denim and now Hobo Rocket, they have consolidated themselves as the more fun and rambunctious younger brother of Tame Impala, with the latter's two albums firmly informed by Kevin Parker's more misanthropic decree...
- thequietus.com
2013-09-12
★★★★★
It's a good rule of thumb for social media that if you're getting something for free, you're probably the product, but what's the dynamic like when you're the one getting the product but none of the enjoyment? Such is listening to Hobo Rocket, an occasionally thrilling record that feels like it was more fun to make than it is to listen to...
- www.tinymixtapes.com
2013-08-26
★★★★★
Pond have completely lost it. They've lost their minds, lost their idea of structure, and have completely lost their crippling "Aren't those just the guys from Tame Impala?" association. While most will immediately lump all of those Perth bands from down under together, it should be Hobo Rocket that splits that nonsense and allows Pond to be noticed for making one of 2013's most entertaining listens of the year...
- www.prefixmag.com
2013-08-13
★★★★★
For anyone who isn't quite familiar with Perth's cosmic wunderkinds, Pond have steadily been gathering a lot of mainstream recognition as distinguished gurus in the current re-blooming of the psychedelic mindset. Although Pond shares most of its members with Tame Impala, and even cater to a similar demographic, each band offers their own distinctive brand of '60s-inspired psychedelia. In fact, it's almost like we're being given two different stylings of the same entrée...
- www.sputnikmusic.com
2013-08-11
★★★★★
It initially seemed odd that Nick Allbrook, bassist of Tame Impala would jump ship right after the release of the band's critically acclaimed sophomore album Lonerism. But now that jump doesn't seem so unusual. Pond, the psych-rock side project of Allbrook and fellow Tame Impala member Jay Watson, started out as a simple supplemental creative outlet. Allbrook has now left to work with Pond full-time, while Watson still splits his time between both acts...
- www.cmj.com
2013-08-10
★★★★★
Pond's Hobo Rocket is an exercise in organized chaos. When the band organizes its classic rock tendencies, hammering down power chords and feeding a hunger for severe fuzzy guitar freakouts, it makes for a perfect storm. Here, the '70s merge with today, creating timeless songs that get inside your head. "Xanman" sees Pond reaching that pinnacle, riffing hard and building a strong melody and chorus that's clever and hooky...
- www.undertheradarmag.com
2013-08-08
★★★★★
Pond shares three-fifths of its membership with Perth, Australia's Tame Impala and plays a similar breed of psych rock, so if you were swept up in the hype of TI's last album, Lonerism, you've already got an entry point into Hobo Rocket. But it's hardly a clone of its breakout brother. Sure, Pond have a similar interest in the classic period where blues, folk and pop artists started experimenting with acid, but they're much more Zeppelin II than Sgt. Pepper...
- nowtoronto.com
2013-08-08
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