Tame Impala - Lonerism (09/10/2012)
If you really nitpick through the lyrics, Kevin Parker often whines about solitude and his unwanted surroundings but the beauty is that he doesn’t pick up an acoustic guitar and wail out a wanky-pop track, nor does he come off as a completely self-conscious loser. He channels it through this sonic wonder-pop under the pseudonym, Tame Impala and their sophomore release, Lonerism.
Chanting through is Be Above It, in an almost OM meditation, the song tells of Parker constantly giving himself reassurance about his circumstances and other people. Lovingly added looped drums and the new venture with old synthesizers plus moog guitar effects (breaking the bank there, Kevin), it all adds this splash of paint to the grey-scale canvas, truly paving the way for the feel of Lonerism. The first release of the LP, Apocalypse Dreams is a dream-pop daze of a tune filled with new instruments, based off piano and bass, you can sense Paul McCartney and John Lennon nod along. The classic Tame Impala high octave synth-guitar cuts through the final take on the song, leading and letting the bass hop… or as Noel Fielding swimmingly put it via Twitter on Desire Be, Desire Go’s bass line, “bouncing”.
Hinted as the next release single lies Feels Like We Only Go Backwards, a lovely head boppy pop tune through organs and a thumping bass line. Kevin has always stated he wanted to head towards a sugar pop direction, giving into his guilty pleasures such as Kylie Minogue and in a way, you can see it through this lovely track. Not so much Kylie Minogue, but the desire for a lighter sound. Sitting quite the contrary, Elephant is a fuzz heavy ode to Black Sabbath… not really, but really, it’s an almost blues progression filled with riff and backing organ. Although it feels like a completely new track, Parker has stated in an interview, “Elephant, is actually a really old song, we used to play it before we were even called Tame Impala”. Elephant wails about a person with an extremely large ego, someone without humility, a clear enemy in the eyes of the writer.
Mind Mischief lays a guitar heavy track with harmonies similar to the Lennon-McCartney duo, a big call I will admit but Parker’s uncanny vocal resemblance to John Lennon really helps paint the picture. A sweet piano serenade at the end of Lonerism, Sun’s Coming Up, is the cherry on the top of the already sweet cake. An unexplored recording territory, Kevin and a piano alone, it really is quite refreshing. He may not be the most classically trained voice; it’s still a welcoming tune with wonder. You may recognize the ending of the song whenever Tame Impala play the introduction to Desire Be, Desire Go live.
Kevin Parker isn’t unfamiliar with musical success, teaming up with incestuous Perth outfits POND, Mink Mussel Creek and Canyons, producing his girlfriend’s first LP for outfit Melody’s Echo Chamber plus his successful first full length LP release with Tame Impala’s, Innerspeaker. Their follow up two years later, is an absolute stunner. Although hardcore Tame Impala fans dreamt of the pure ‘60s grit rock of Black Sabbath and Cream, Parker takes on a dream-pop landscape with Lonerism. It easily ranks up there with the top albums of 2012 and we hope for the sake of the underdog status and all Gotye-haterz that Parker finally nabs an ARIA award.
Ben Filer
Chanting through is Be Above It, in an almost OM meditation, the song tells of Parker constantly giving himself reassurance about his circumstances and other people. Lovingly added looped drums and the new venture with old synthesizers plus moog guitar effects (breaking the bank there, Kevin), it all adds this splash of paint to the grey-scale canvas, truly paving the way for the feel of Lonerism. The first release of the LP, Apocalypse Dreams is a dream-pop daze of a tune filled with new instruments, based off piano and bass, you can sense Paul McCartney and John Lennon nod along. The classic Tame Impala high octave synth-guitar cuts through the final take on the song, leading and letting the bass hop… or as Noel Fielding swimmingly put it via Twitter on Desire Be, Desire Go’s bass line, “bouncing”.
Hinted as the next release single lies Feels Like We Only Go Backwards, a lovely head boppy pop tune through organs and a thumping bass line. Kevin has always stated he wanted to head towards a sugar pop direction, giving into his guilty pleasures such as Kylie Minogue and in a way, you can see it through this lovely track. Not so much Kylie Minogue, but the desire for a lighter sound. Sitting quite the contrary, Elephant is a fuzz heavy ode to Black Sabbath… not really, but really, it’s an almost blues progression filled with riff and backing organ. Although it feels like a completely new track, Parker has stated in an interview, “Elephant, is actually a really old song, we used to play it before we were even called Tame Impala”. Elephant wails about a person with an extremely large ego, someone without humility, a clear enemy in the eyes of the writer.
Mind Mischief lays a guitar heavy track with harmonies similar to the Lennon-McCartney duo, a big call I will admit but Parker’s uncanny vocal resemblance to John Lennon really helps paint the picture. A sweet piano serenade at the end of Lonerism, Sun’s Coming Up, is the cherry on the top of the already sweet cake. An unexplored recording territory, Kevin and a piano alone, it really is quite refreshing. He may not be the most classically trained voice; it’s still a welcoming tune with wonder. You may recognize the ending of the song whenever Tame Impala play the introduction to Desire Be, Desire Go live.
Kevin Parker isn’t unfamiliar with musical success, teaming up with incestuous Perth outfits POND, Mink Mussel Creek and Canyons, producing his girlfriend’s first LP for outfit Melody’s Echo Chamber plus his successful first full length LP release with Tame Impala’s, Innerspeaker. Their follow up two years later, is an absolute stunner. Although hardcore Tame Impala fans dreamt of the pure ‘60s grit rock of Black Sabbath and Cream, Parker takes on a dream-pop landscape with Lonerism. It easily ranks up there with the top albums of 2012 and we hope for the sake of the underdog status and all Gotye-haterz that Parker finally nabs an ARIA award.
Ben Filer