Search - Tame Impala :: Innerspeaker

Best "rock" album I've heard all year

M. Fulkerson | Portland, Oregon | 07/07/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Whether you're okay with a band so blatantly borrowing from so many genres to make an album will definitely sway your impressions of Tame Impala's "Innerspeaker". If you can get square with that idea you're in for a unique treat, and one of the finest albums of 2010 (so far).



The first thing you'll notice is lead singer Kevin Parker's uncanny ability to channel John Lennon's vocal style. It's almost distracting during the first listen, but you soon begin to realize that his voice is utilized like an organic instrument, weaving its way through the lush instrumentation and the wall-of-sound psychedelia that may seem disingenuous to those well initiated with the genre. However, there is something more happening with this album that constantly evolves and takes shape right up until the last track. It is important to listen to this album as a whole as it is more or less devoid of catchy, bubble-gum sweetness that is required in the moody and temperamental singles market. Allowing it to unfold naturally is key to noticing its intricacies, from its nods to British pop, to its Pink Floyd-style psychedelics. It's an album, in every sense of the word.



Dave Fridmann and Tim Holmes record and mix "Innerspeaker", and it's immediately apparent that their work is all over this album. Expansive feedback, fat snare pulses, and echoed vocals abound in this one, making it near impossible to not get sucked into its all encompassing sound palettes. Likening the sound of "Innerspeaker" to Mercury Rev and Flaming Lips would certainly not be a lazy comparison, but where the Lips tend to lean more heavily on electronics to explore the space, Tame Impala depend on their trusty six-strings to get their guitar-jangled swerve on. Holmes' influence is also felt on largely instrumental tracks like "Runway, Houses, City, Clouds". His work with Death In Vegas - in particular, albums like "Scorpio Rising" and "Contino Sessions" - definitely can be traced to "Innerspeaker".



Opening track "It Is Not Meant To Be" sets the pacing beautifully with the catchiest melody on the album, interspersed with Parker's dreamy vocal floating between each snare kick and guitar string. Each sound coming from the speaker compliments the other perfectly forming a complete and totally unique listening experience.



Listening to "Innerspeaker" isn't quite a transcendent experience, but this band is good at recognizing a sound that will most likely reach a wider audience with their tendency to veer toward more widely used styles and sounds. Where this album goes above and beyond, though, is its focus and passion. You never feel like they're ripping off older sounds, you simply appreciate the total package pumping through your stereo. The album is meticulously produced and mixed, yielding a definitive, and updated, labor of love and care."

Thickly melodic & playful psychedelic pop/rock

Charlie Quaker | Normal, IL. | 06/30/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Buzzing, full-length debut from Perth, Australia is a fluid, drift-through-the-clouds, trippy

psychedelic pop/rock gem with an engulfing sense of melody that will sweep you to a fantasy land

where every dust nugget is a glittering golden angel--naked, smiling, beckoning. Blasted by

sonorous waves of sonic reverb, "Innerspeaker" is "a rainbow sandstorm of stoned riffage, mind-

bending melody and blissed out adventurism...". It's not really a "hum & bounce" thing; more

of a "float & smile" trip. The front cover shows an eternal vortex of clouds, trees, skies &

mystery--a perfect album description. Some similarities to Flaming Lips, MGMT, Dungen,

Mercury Rev, The Nazz, Bubble Puppy.

"

Finest album of the year...

Superman | Dallas, TX | 08/10/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm 48-years-old and I refuse to "get lost in a decade" vis-a-vis music. I know too many people who are stuck in a certain decade of music, usually the decade they went to high school. I love discovering new bands, new sounds and I enjoy it so much I'm willing to listen to a LOT of bad music to find those gems. This is absolutely one of those gems. Most people mention track two, Desire Be Desire Go or track six, Solitude Is Bliss as the standouts, and they are good, but track one, It's Not Meant To Be is the true masterpiece. As other has said, Tame Impala sounds like they are channeling Lennon à la Sergent Pepper, and that's true, but they also incorporate a healthy dose of Tears For Fears and more obscure names like Kula Shaker, who had an EP called Summer Sun (Tame Impala had an EP called Modular Recordings with a single called "Sundown Syndrome"). This album is sonic heroin, stick it in and get high."