Tame Impala - Lonerism

Tame Impala released their debut album, Innerspeaker, in 2010. A 60s throwback made of fuzzy guitar and big psychedelic hooks, it was filled with catchy pop songs and hum-along melodies. Their new album is a much more complicated affair. Lonerism is the classic sophomore album. It’s a band maturing, diversifying, experimenting, but ultimately, running out of hits.

There is definitely a lot to like here. The opener Be Above It is a really nice intro, with spoken word hidden under waves of fuzz. There’s a really nice bass line carrying the track along in Apocalypse Dreams and there’s a great synth part in it as well. In fact, the whole song is great until around 3 minutes when it goes a bit Pink Floyd. Why Won’t They Talk To Me is probably my favourite on the album. The dynamic changes feel natural and the bubbling synth in the background is really pretty. Feels Like We Only Go Backwards is lovely too. The laughter in the background of Keep on Lying is a personal highlight, it’s a shame about the ending to the song. The last track is an absolute treat as well; a Tame Impala song I can’t think of a lazy 60s comparison for. A piano and vocal affair followed by over 2 minutes of flange effects. It might not be that much of a treat.

The problem with the album is that it consistently overruns. The intro is great, but it should be just that, an intro, not a full length song. Long songs need to go somewhere and that doesn’t seem to be something Tame Impala excel at. There are several 5 or 6 minute tracks here and they all either go nowhere and become really dull (Music To Walk Home By and Keep on Lying) or go somewhere that really doesn’t work (Apocalypse Dreams and Nothing That Has Happened…). She Just Won’t Believe Me is really shit as well. It sounds like a proper song and then just stops. I don’t see the point, it doesn’t sound good, it’s not clever. It’s trying too hard at it’s most bizarre.

This album is not bad, but I don’t think it’s particularly good either. Instead, I’m going to patronisingly call it “promising”. There’s enough here that I think they have a great album in them, it’s just not quite there yet.