Tame Impala Lonerism
5 October 2012
Modular Recordings
tracklist.
1. "Be Above It" (3:22)
2. "Endors Toi" (3:06) 3. "Apocalypse Dreams" (5:57) 4. "Mind Mischief" (4:31)
5. "Music to Walk Home By" (5:12)
6. "Why Won't They Talk to Me?" (4:46)
7. "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" (3:13)
8. "Keep on Lying" (5:54) 9. "Elephant" (3:31) 10. "She Just Won't Believe Me" (0:57)
11. "Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control" (6:01)
12. "Sun's Coming Up" (5:20)
Alexis Petridis recently reviews Lonerism for The Guardian, giving the album a much deserved 10/10. Read the review below.
Quote:
A magazine recently canvassed the opinions of Tame Impala's Australian mastermind Kevin Parker on the differences between his second album Lonerism and its predecessor, Innerspeaker. On the face of it a straightforward query, but Parker required three goes at the answer, a state of affairs that led the journalist to compare him with Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap. First he suggested Lonerism contained "melodies that beam at you rather than wash over you". Then he reconsidered, suggesting instead that its songs were "more like an explosion rather than a wave". And then he decided the new songs were quite like a wave after all: "Like waves that hit you rather than you swimming in an ocean of melody," he offered, adding a hopeful "know what I mean?"
This is all in keeping with the image of Parker as a kind of heavy-lidded auteur, a man who sings and plays every note on Tame Impala's records in his Perth bedroom and spent a significant proportion of his debut album bemoaning the deleterious effects of his drug intake on his personal life. "I wanted her, but she doesn't like the life I lead," he wailed, "sitting around smoking weed." That he might cure his romantic agony at a stroke by spending a little less time sitting around smoking weed had apparently not occurred to him, but that's the logic of the committed stoner for you.
But, as Nigel Tufnell once opined, there's a very fine line between stupid and clever. And for all Parker seems to enjoy playing the pothead pixie – the YouTube trailer for Lonerism consists of live footage intercut with Parker going "errrm" and "what was I going to say?" – Tame Impala's albums seem very clever indeed. Psychedelia's ongoing appeal to musicians is understandable – there's something seductive about the restless pioneering spirit of rock music in 1966/67 – but to the latterday artist it's less a genre than a conundrum. It's supposed to be transcendent, innovative, unbound, futuristic. Equally, it's a genre that's become codified, sonically defined by noises that were the cutting-edge in technology and taste 45 years ago: tapes played backwards and out of phase, wah pedals, Eastern-influenced drones, the reedy tones of the Farfisa Compact organ. If you're minded to make more than a pastiche, to do something other than rearrange a load of cliches, you're going to have to find a way of reconciling its sound with its forward-thinking ethos. Not an easy job, but like its predecessor, Lonerism pulls it off.
It certainly contains a lot of what you might call psychedelic psignifiers. The drums are usually a fidgety take on the Tomorrow Never Knows tumble; Keep on Lying ends with some mournful organ that sounds exactly like something Richard Wright might have played on the first Pink Floyd album; Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Can Control and Mind Mischief are bathed in phasing effects, their sound panning from speaker to speaker. Moreover, it displays an innate understanding of psychedelia, not least in its balance between the beatific and the bleak: from White Rabbit to Arnold Layne to A Day in the Life, the best psych records were always more gritty and troubled than the popular cartoon of the serene peace-sign-flashing flower child suggested. Here, Gotta Be Above It seems to be a musical depiction of an on stage panic attack, with its whispering voice, jumpy drums and ominous electronics. Meanwhile the melody of Why Won't They Talk to Me? is as beautiful and its echo-laden sound as spacey as the song's tone is dark: as is perhaps inevitable if you make your albums alone in one of the most remote cities in the world, Parker seems to have a lot to say about isolation and loneliness, and he says it rather more eloquently than his public image might suggest. But Lonerism never really sounds retro, slathered as it is with electronics. Virtually every instrument is caked in distortion, but not the warm, familiar fuzz of an overdriven amplifier. It feels digital, alien, the sound of modern machines going wrong.
All this is underpinned by genuinely great songwriting. People tend to describe Parker's melodies as Lennonesque, which in the era of Beady Eye sounds an oddly backhanded compliment, like shorthand for saying he's not trying at all. But the Lennon he evokes is the author of Happiness Is a Warm Gun and Julia, blessed with an innate pop sensibility, but always searching for the unforeseen chord, the unexpected melodic shift. Ultimately, on Elephant's warped bovver-glam or the unsettling mix of piano ballad and ferociously noisy guitar soloing that is album closer Sun's Coming Up, Tame Impala just sound like Tame Impala: delving into the past in order to drag it into the future. No wonder the man at the centre of it all has a hard time describing what he's doing.
Lonerism just received the Best New Music label from Pitchfork. Read their 9.0/10 review of the album, below:
Quote:
If their debut was any indication, Tame Impala's second full-length, Lonerism, will once again be compared to albums from the late 1960s and early 70s. But if their intent was to make a record that sounds like it came from that era, they've failed and ended up with something more fascinating. Sure, there's merit to the countless groups and scenes that seek out the right tube amps and compressors and microphones in order to create flawless period pieces. They're often called "revivalists," even though the actual term is wasted on them. Are they really breathing new life into this form by keeping it cryogenically frozen in ideas nearly a half-century old? Tame Impala proves far more exciting because, by maximizing the use of the available technology, they tap into the progressive and experimental spirit of psychedelic rock, and not just the sound.
The Perth trio did something similar on 2010's Innerspeaker, and they might be open to "Same Impala"-type jokes if the expanse of psychedelic rock were something you'd be expected to move on from after one record. Lonerism does make the kind of tune-ups that typically generate a lot of second LP plaudits: It's leaner, more propulsive, more confident, and less beholden to its influences. But Lonerism's genius manifests itself in Tame Impala's ability to figure out a way to integrate the concepts of electronic music-making as a visceral, classically-indebted power trio without resorting to ripping off the breakbeat/Beatles template of "Setting Sun".
Kevin Parker doesn't sound like an electronic producer, he just thinks like one. He sees his songs as blank canvases rather than boxed-in verse/chorus structures while emphasizing fluidity, constant motion, and textural evolution. You could spend the entirety of opener "Be Above It" letting your ears luxuriate in the diversity of tactile sensations-- the subliminal whisper of the title becomes a rhythm track, a barreling drum break is severely tweaked to sound like an oncoming rush of bison, a flanged guitar wobbles like neon Jello, and Parker's laconic, slightly echoed vocals pulls the whole thing together. Lonerism could go anywhere from that point, which is confirmed by the majestic song that follows, "Enders Toi". Follow the regal path of the lead synth or tilt your ears towards the righteously loud drum rolls that sound like masterfully chopped Bonham/Moon samples. I'm reminded of Radiohead's stated goal on "Airbag", which was to recreate Endtroducing..... in real time, or what DJ Shadow himself has been trying to do ever since in terms of merging the rarest vinyl grooves with your stony older brother's record collection.
Those are the first two songs on Lonerism, and it's bold to lead off with seven minutes of mostly instrumentals. Yet for all of the sonic trickery, Tame Impala are anchored by the righteous aspects of classic rock. They're throwbacks in the sense that they operate from a pre-punk perspective where each musician has the chops and confidence to be capable of soloing, and the singer and the drummer were cranked loud as hell. Yes, Parker does sound like John Lennon. Many athletes pattern their golf swings after Tiger Woods, their batting stance on Barry Bonds, or stick out their tongue while taking a jump shot like Michael Jordan. It means little if you don't have the skills to connect and perform.
More important is how Parker writes melodies that are instantly memorable, that rise and fall with beautiful simplicity and give what are fairly basic and relatable sentiments heft. Lonerism lacks a chorus that instantly pops like "Solitude Is Bliss", which is an issue only if you think the best melodies necessarily need to appear in the middle of the song. You'd be hard-pressed to find hooks as catchy as the verses during the run that spans "Music to Walk Home By" through "Elephant", and while none initially stands out as the kind of hit that might push Tame Impala to bigger festival stages, the cumulative effect means Lonerism might.
So, the above is all well and good for the people who might use Lonerism to EQ their hi-fis. Does it make you feel anything? On Innerspeaker, Parker sang, "You will never come close to how I feel," so what's the emotional component to Lonerism? Though Parker's lyrics are plainspoken and occasionally a little elusive, Tame Impala's two records are called Innerspeaker and Lonerism, some of their songs go by titles like "Solitude Is Bliss", "Why Won't They Talk to Me?", "Island Walking", and "Mind Mischief". You get the idea of where Parker's head is at, or more to the point, that Parker's head is where he's at.
That's a fairly common concern in this realm. You think about most of the technophile, prog-rock opuses of recent decades and most sound like spiritual heirs of King Crimson, Pink Floyd, or Black Sabbath; records like Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Kid A, and The Moon & Antarctica tell the listener that their state of being is forced upon them, by shadowy governments, by heartless technology, by an uncaring god. It justifies the headphones-bound quarantine. What distinguishes Tame Impala is how they are able to explore the emotional difference between being alone and being isolated. Jayson Greene described Parker's voice vividly as "like someone trapped John Lennon's vocal take from 'A Day in the Life' in a jar and taught it to sing new songs." In terms of a mentality, to me it's more along the lines of "I'm Only Sleeping", embodying and advocating a wakeful and passive state of psychedelia.
Lonerism derives much of its philosophical and musical pleasure from this interaction of micro and macro. The three members of Tame Impala stack vocal and guitar harmonies on the loveably hungover "Mind Mischief", and then Parker and co-producer Dave Fridmann take control of the mixing consoles and shake the whole thing up like a snowglobe. A similarly fun trick happens on "Apocalypse Dreams" where Tame Impala build the momentum of a bouncy Northern Soul groove up to a peak and then the mix abruptly cuts off and spits them back into a panoramic, HD jam.
All these rich sounds serve as an alternate take on anticipating technological encroachment, that humanity and technology aren't necessarily at war. You feel small while listening to Lonerism, but in a way that makes you appreciate how man, machine, and Mother Nature can harmonize. Lonerism is portable and joyous in an unforced way, a soundtrack for the times when you're walking downtown and look up at a collection of skyscrapers, or driving through a mountain pass on an interstate or even looking at a Ferris wheel next to an ocean thinking, "Holy ****, how did this all get here?"
Elephant, Be Above It, Mind Mischief, Apocalypse Dreams
I still prefer InnerSpeaker, but Lonerism is growing on me.
Yes, it is! Up there with Grizzly Bear, Chromatics, Beach House, and Fiona Apple
I think I already like it more than InnerSpeaker. Right now "Why Won't They Talk To Me" and "Feels Like We Always Go Backwards" are my favorites, I'm also in love with "Elephant", "Apocalypse Dreams" and "Endors Toi".
Now I'm in love with this album. It's excellent and so full of life.
Favorite tracks: "Apocalypse Dreams," "Music To Walk Home By," "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards," "Elephants" and "Nothing That Has..."; this last one is incredible and contains the most addictive layers of sound in the whole album, the way they reprise the first verse at the end is just brilliant.
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