Tame Impala Lonerism:
When this album first came out a few months ago I dismissed it like a dick, I read a review that mentioned the Beatles, 70’s Komische music and psych and I just assumed it would be a weak pastiche of those things, which is probably why most bands hate influences being talked about in reviews; it distorts things.
I wish instead I read a review that talked about what a perfect flow it has, with the tracks washing and melting into each other while still somehow managing to have full distinctive melodies, it helps that their drummer is an absolute monster, flailing and flaying his way through the tracks, sometimes speeding them up to double time or simply beating them into a coma.
Actually though the musicianship of the whole band has a lot to be said for it, the whole thing is built on the back of a reckless virtuosity: flanged, warping layers of guitars are easily mistaken for keyboards, and the acid-fried keyboards often sound like guitars, while on top of this maelstrom the bass lines boom, swoop and groove giving the whole near-mess a backbone.
The final piece of the puzzle is songwriter/producer Kevin Parker, he’s got a melancholy streak a mile wide, these songs aren’t the usual stoner rock tributes to dungeons and dragons but rather about isolation, literally lonerism and it grounds the most exotic moments; Lonerisms most original quality is this ‘singer-songwriter-jamming-on-acid’ feel.
Highly recommended: Listen
