Tonight I am going to see one of my favorite bands, Matt Pond PA. Here’s my little secret. For some reason I have NEVER seen MPPA live. This is beyond wierd isn’t it? I’m not exactly sure how this has happened, being I live in New York, as does the band, but we have unfortunate incidents, that every time for the past 5 years, when MPPA took the stage I either already had tickets to another show or I was on vacation. It seemed to be working against me. Good grief Charlie Brown.

I still remember the first time I discovered Matt Pond PA. It was 2005 and I was interning at big record label in Manhattan. Someone got fired, and as the intern I was, I got to clean out their cd collection, and keep what I wanted to, and put the rest in the trash. Nothing caught my eye but this mix someone had made the person oddly titled “Sunsetting.” Looking at the tracklist, I saw the good Matt Pond PA name on there, noticed it being familar, and took it. The song that was on there was “The Butcher,” and in my ever mess of a room, I didn’t listen to the mix for almost two weeks. It wasn’t until Sunday night two weeks later when I was watching Subteranean on MTV2, that they showed the MPPA video for “Closest (Look Out).” I’ve been hooked ever since.

Well tonight is the night that I get to experience first hand, MPPA at the Bowery Ballroom. With the recent release of The Dark Leaves (Polyvinyl), and some of the strongest songs Pond has ever written, it is sure to be an amazing night. Plus I am going to experience it with someone who I love dearly. I think it was all meant to happen at once.

Recently MPPA released the first video for the record, “Starting,” which features the new-ish lineup featuring the lovely Miss Leslie Sisson of the Wooden Birds (which she plays with Pond and Andrew Kenny formerly of American Analog Set), running away from a slow swerving car with glowing orbs. It MPPA fashion, it’s beautiful.

Matt Pond PA “Starting”