Matt Pond PA @ Crescent Ballroom

It was 10 years ago when indie rock started to seep into pop culture. The Internet had emerged as a way to distribute music (legally and illegally) and became a barometer for 20-somethings who wanted to discover something new and obscure. The popular television show The O.C. was actually shining...

By Jason Keil

May 22, 2014

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It was 10 years ago when indie rock started to seep into pop culture. The Internet had emerged as a way to distribute music (legally and illegally) and became a barometer for 20-somethings who wanted to discover something new and obscure. The popular television show The O.C. was actually shining light on bands who had played in the shadows for years, including Matt Pond PA. The band released the melancholy and lively album Emblems in 2004. Pond had created emotional chamber pop for a number of years with his indie-pop collective, but it was the 12 lushly layered tracks of Emblems, Matt Pond PA's fifth album, where he reached a peak in songwriting. To celebrate the anniversary of Emblems, the group is playing the album in its entirety. To fault Pond for living in the past seems unfair. His group's well-received latest album, Skeletons and Friends, was released for free on NoiseTrade, and the "PA" was dropped from the band's name. Learning from the past is how the future is made, and it still seems bright for this band.

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