That PA in his band’s name still stands for Pennsylvania, but honestly, Matt Pond was probably in Brooklyn before you were. He moved there from Philadelphia in 2003, back before the gleaming condos went up, before the hipster-Hasidim clashes had really gotten going, and frankly well before the current proliferation of micro-genres had taken hold, in which every emerging artist must be described by an ever more absurdly parsed hyphenate, eg: bro-core or post-ancowave or overhyped_UK_core

No such hyphenates need apply to matt pond PA – simple straight, smart indie rock will do just fine. And they’ve delivered plenty of it in twelve years: Eight albums and seven EP’s, the most recent of which, the triple-release called The Threeep is still on going.  The band’s managed to created some enduring fan favorites – “The Party”, “Halloween”, “Several Arrows Later”, and “Sunlight” – remarkable in part because the lineup has changed frequently over time, and Pond himself is the only original member still on board. Things seem to have settled down on that front, with what appears to be a stable core membership of late, one that created their latest full length, The Dark Leaves. It’s an album whose rustic nature may have something to do with the fact that it was recorded at a cabin in upstate New York by Pond and his  pal – and now bandmate - Chris Hansen. Our newest series on Noisevox, Face Time caught up with Chris, Matt and Leslie Sisson of matt pond PA recently in – where else? - Brooklyn, for a conversation at the Knitting Factory, followed by a waterfront acoustic performance of their song “Ruins”. Enjoy.  Then head over to the matt pond PA album page and write your review of The Dark Leaves.