Tame Impala: Lonerism

     Tame Impala are the true sixties revivalists.  They exude the creativity and willingness to push the envelope more than any other bands in their respective genre.  They don't try to recreate the sounds of the sixties, but intensify them.   When the band released their 2010 breakthrough debut, Innerspeaker, the indie world saw a nearly perfect melange of psychedelic playfulness and pop sensibility.  With the release of their sophomore, Lonerism, Tame Impala have proven their talent was not a shot in the dark. 

     Lonerism further explores Tame Impala's brilliant sense of sounds, as the songs are awash in layers of lo-fi instrumentation, with a splash of synth.  While Tame Impala is not an electronic band, they have adopted a more freestyle approach to songwriting, not being weighed down by typical verse-chorus-chorus structure.  The music tends to wash over the listener like waves, continuously flowing and rolling, rather than being broken down into different song parts.   Lonerism exhibits Tame Impalas nearly flawless knack for combining organic and inorganic sounds into one sonic swirl.  The band uses traditional classic rock subtleties, with synthetic sounds interwoven in between.  The result is a level of layer and texture not done with this level of tact and grace; think surf rock, but played within a lucid dream.  

     Lonerism, expectantly, continues to deal with the band's, especially leader Kevin Parker's, feelings of alienation.  This is seemingly a cliche and transparent tool of the indie rock enterprise.  On closer inspection, Parker makes a clever twist on the notion; one that perfectly compliments the psychedelia of Lonerism.  Where the norm of alienation songwriting is pining over an object of affection, or the demoralization not being cool enough for others, Tame Impala dig deeper, harkening back to sixties classics like Revolver.  The lyrics on Lonerism sing about being on a different plane than the rest of the world.  There is no depression or distress in the words, more just a passive expression of being lost in a different world, expounding further on their psychedelic masterpiece. 

     Lonerism is a psychedelic oeuvre of sonic genius.  In the past several years, the indie world has done a good job recreating a psychedelic music scene, with different bands exploring different levels of the ether.  Lonerism is a benchmark of this continuously growing genre, and solidified Tame Impala's seat near the top of the psychedelic hierarchy.  Truly a masterpiece album.