Terrapin Pond: Hello All Stations

Terrapin Pond describes itself as “fuzzed-out, spaced-out, finger-pickin’ noise like ‘Interstellar Overdrive’ reborn in Appalachia”. That sounds pretty fun. Who doesn’t need a little more psychedelic-swamp hillbilly music? Sadly, while the album does carry a certain stoner-country vibe, there’s not nearly as much wah-wah banjo or distorted fiddle playing as one might hope.

There are standouts aplenty, though. “Big Reel” chugs along with a loping charm until the final minute’s wailing guitar solo and “The Face of the Moon” mixes fiddles and finger-picking into a sinister minor-key dirge. Much of the record follows a more laid-back groove, as on opener “A Call to Arms” or the Pink-Floyd-meets-Grateful-Dead murmur of “Fight You in My Dreams.” In fact, the Workingman’s Dead-era Dead are a strong presence here–no surprise, given the band’s echo of the Dead album title Terrapin Station–and the country-psychedelia mix falls much more on the side of country side of the equation.