Album Review: Richard In Your Mind - Ponderosa

Did anyone think it was possible for Richard In Your Mind to become more of a psych band? No? Well you were wrong. Because they have (with added synth!). Ponderosa kicks off with sitar on Karma (Love Grows) and then the bliss-outs escalate from there, with lyrics like opening line “You receive a high-five when you give a high-five,” setting the tone for what will obviously be a deep album. 

First single Hammered sums up the album easily: “Me and my baby get hammered in the daytime.” It’s an album that continues the oh-so-Australian tradition of not taking itself too seriously. And there’s something very fitting about basing an entire song on another great Australian tradition: day-drinking. Tongue-in-cheek songwriting again rears its head for the genuinely funny This Is House Music, with its deck scratching, surprisingly danceable synth break (which does bring to mind the flashing strobes of a house club) and lyrics that don’t mean to mean much at all: “Melody ripples across the surface of the moon.” The same synth break is brought back for Good Morning, which thanks to vocal effects and, yes, more deck scratching, is an unlikely grimy highlight.

But the obvious highlight is Look You Gave which is catchy, but not in an obvious way; you’ll find yourself murmuring along before long. It and Shooting Star are two tracks that are good song-songs, utilising funky bass lines, harmonies and chilled surf-style lead guitar.