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SEVERAL ARROWS LATER
ALTITUDE
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This Brooklyn-based indie-pop combo are led by singer-guitarist Matt Pond; the "PA" refers to Philadelphia, where Pond formed the group in 1997. He’s one of those emotional indie guys who sings with a clenched, throaty gasp that makes it sound like whatever he’s singing about is a really big deal, even when it probably isn’t. But, unlike many of his peers, Pond knows how to surround his voice with arrangements that temper that intensity and stabilize the music. Which makes Several Arrows Later a lot more listenable than lyrics like "I can beat myself up with success" might suggest. Nearly every track offers something to counterbalance Pond’s anxiety: "The Trees and the Wild" pulses with a jaunty keyboard figure, "So Much Trouble" has a cool Morse-code guitar part, the title track coasts on a ticking, processed drumbeat that gives the singer’s moping some valuable motion. Pond can whine all he wants; his bandmates have his back.
