Innerspeaker

Debut album Innerspeaker from Aussie three-piece Tame Impala arrives just in time for summer navel-gazing. Recorded and produced by front man Kevin Parker, engineered by Death In Vegas's Tim Holmes, and mixed by Dave Fridmann (MGMT, Flaming Lips), Parker calls the band, “a steady-flowing psychedelic groove-rock band that emphasizes dreamlike melody.” Sergeant Pepper eats Disraeli Gears with a side of Ta Det Lugnt.

Innerspeaker trips through fuzzy, echo-plexed retroscapes, where Parker often laments (but never apologizes for) the bittersweets of his blissed-out disposition, which both elate and alienate the Lennon-esque vocalist.

Opening track “It's Not Meant to Be” sets the tone with 'verby vocals, spiraling guitar, and deliberate bass. Lyrics like “She doesn't like the life that I lead, doesn't like sand stuck on her feet, or sitting around smoking weed, I must seem more like a friend in need,” “Company's okay, solitude is bliss, there's a party in my head and no one is invited,” and “The only one judging you is yourself” typify Parker's blasé bipolarity.

The collection of lysergic buzz songs craft a vintage resurrection that's headier than a love jug of Carlo Rossi at dawn and more habit-forming than pistachios and respiration combined.

• Album: Innerspeaker (2010)
• Artist: Tame Impala
• Label: 101 Distribution [Import]
• Songs: (1) It's Not Meant To Be (2) Desire Be Desire Go (3) Alter Ego (4) Lucidity (5) Make Up Your Mind (6) Solitude Is Bliss (7) Jeremy's Storm (8) Expectations (9) Bold Arrow Of Time (10) Runway Houses City Clouds (11) I Don't Really Mind