he gave the band prior to recording. This included convincing the band to reduce the number of vocal harmonies and give more prominence to Deal's vocals. Donelly believes the removal of harmonies made the performances "more effective and sadder and ... focused". Albini paid attention to capturing strong live performances in the studio. His main concern was achieving the best sound, rather than seeking the best technical performances. Albini had a policy of never doing more than two takes of each song. This led to confrontations with Donelly, who remembers: "For all the fights we had with him in the studio, for all the times I'd stomp upstairs in my pajamas screaming that I couldn't live with such-and-such a guitar part, the next morning I realized he was usually right." Deal also often fought with Albini. Wiggs was struck with how quickly Albini and the other musicians resolved issues through short, intense arguments, an ability she attributed to their being American. Albini saw Walford's drumming as an integral part of the band's sound. Then 19 years old, Walford was a confident and "hard-hitting" drummer who typically played one of his drums behind the beat. Song tempos were faster than Wiggs had expected, which arose in part because Deal lacked the breath control to sing her lines in a slower manner. Music and lyrics Pod has sparse instrumentation. Music critic Colin Larkin likened the album to the Pixies for its threatening melodies and loud, resounding guitars. The New York Times Karen Schoemer also found similarities to the Pixies, citing Pods "angular melodies, shattered tempos and screeching dynamics", but felt the album nonetheless had its own identity distinct from Deal's previous band. Unlike the demo, the album does not have a country-influenced sound. Other writers have noted the album's sinister, sexual and youthful feel. Matt LeMay of Pitchfork wrote that Deal's singing is spooky, and evokes a mythical siren or a young girl hiding a weapon. Melody Makers Ted Mico compared the tone of the songs to the innocent-looking girl in Poltergeist who dribbles blood. Albini said that "there was a simultaneous charm to Kim's presentation to her music that's both childlike and giddy and also completely mature and kind of dirty ... [it had a] sort of girlish fascination with things that were pretty but it was also kind of horny. That was a juxtaposition that, at the time, was unusual.