Pond: Hobo Rocket

Sharing members with Tame Impala and featuring Tipperary exile Joseph Ryan in their ranks, these Perth weirdbeards are fond of kicking out the psych jams. Those who wigged out to last year's Beard, Wives, Denim album will find Hobo Rocket stitched from similar threads, an album of fuzzy, good-natured space-rock, revved-up soundclouds and throbbing, thumping, trippy riffs. A lot looser than Pond's debut, Hobo Rocket is at its best when they just play fast and brave with the guitar-heavy vibe, as on Whatever Happened to the Million Heads Collide and the fantastically twisted Xanman. There are times when the band lack the hooks to hang this colourful extravaganza on and they're forced to rely on distortion rather than direction to get them out of jail. Still, as freewheeling, cocky grooves aimed at the stars go, you could do a lot worse than jumping on Pond's rocket. pondband.com
Download: Xanman, O Dharma