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Friday, July 27, 2012

Upcoming Tame Impala: New Keyboards, Old Producer

Posted by Kathy Fennessy on Fri, Jul 27, 2012 at 10:40 AM

Modular People

I'd never make any claims for Perth's Tame Impala as a totally original proposition—their psych and prog-rock reference points are pretty transparent.

And as much as I dig their swirling, space-rock sound, if you told me you couldn't tell them apart from, say, the Black Angels, I wouldn't be offended (but then, I like them, too).

"Elephant," Tame Impala's new single, taps into the Barrett-era Floyd meets ELP thing they do so well, but this time with deep, purplish synths and a black, sabbathy bass line bleeding through the paisley-patterned guitar squall.

It should come as little surprise that the quartet again tapped Dave Fridmann to produce the follow-up to Innerspeaker. Their melodic fuzz fits his sonic wheelhouse, since he's played with Mercury Rev and produced the Flaming Lips—repeatedly. And I've probably mentioned this before, but he once made me a soundboard tape of a 'Lips show at the Vogue, so he'll always be a personal hero of mine (the opening act: some fussbudgets from Aberdeen named Nirvana).

Modular People releases Lonerism in the US on October 9, 2012. Tame Impala's Fleetwood Mac cover, "That's All for Everyone" (from 1979's Tusk) is also worth a listen. Spin is hosting it here. I burned-out on tribute records in the 1990s, but this one has a few bright spots. Hear Music/Concord releases it on August 14.

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I'm definitely bias on this because I love Tame Impala. But I will say this.. I agree they aren't original, because who is these days? That said, I feel that Tame Impala has an incredible sonic sound that is derived from the use of TONS of foot pedals. Anyone that has seen them live knows Kevin Parker plays barefoot to operate his pedal board because it's so intricate.

I love The Black Angels as well, but they go more for the drone sound. Heavy bass lines with simplistic drum beats that repeat the entire song. Tame Impala seems to go more down the pop road with catchy lyrics and an explosion of sound. They do this by implementing a ridiculous amount of layers in their songs as well as tons of analogue devices in a world that has gone digital. And Kevin Parker sounds freakishly similar to John Lennon. Both bands are considered "psychedelic", a term I've come to hate, but they are very different when you look at them as independent bands, rather than bands in the same genre.

While it may not be anything earth shattering, it's definitely enjoyable music. I'm really excited to hear what the rest of the album sounds like, so far "Apocalypse Dreams" and "Elephant" have not let me down.

Considering they're from Perth, the town of one hit albums in the US (The Vines, Wolfmother, etc.) It's awesome to hear they're still producing music that is on par with their first album. I still firmly believe they're an underrated band even though they sell out every time they come to Seattle.

Posted by Devin Floyd on July 27, 2012 at 3:14 PM