Review Summary: The start of something beautiful; Tame Impala's debut record is also its finest, and is a wonderful exercise in psych-rock nostalgia.
Tame Impala's first breakthrough record features a nostalgic sound that harkens back to the psychedelic sound of the 60's and 70's, and while it may not be termed as Tame's best effort, it's certainly catchy and features surreal musical textures and sounds with its spacey vibes, fuzzy guitars and walls of sound. Innerspeaker is highly influenced by Pink Floyd, The Beatles and Cream - widely acclaimed bands that dominated the psychedelic-rock scene in the 60's. Tame Impala is pretty much all Kevin Parker, the Australian musical guru who apparently plays each instrument on every song himself, recording them on an 8-track recorder. Impressive, no? What's even more impressive is that Innerspeaker is his first studio album to be released and regarded as a huge success, being certified gold and winning the Rolling Stone award for Album of the Year in 2010. So, what made this record so damn successful?
For many years, different bands have tried to capture the trance-inducing effects of drugs into their music, prompting the listener to embark on a journey that bewilders his perception, and not many bands have succeeded in doing so. But when the album kicks off with "It's Not Meant To Be", the listener knows that this will be an exciting and trippy journey, as the song's gorgeous intro plays around with the senses, featuring a bouncy bass, extremely distorted guitars and drums bursting with reverb. Much like the rest of the album, the song features lyrics about despair and unrequitted love, whereas other themes in the album include desolation and drug use (duh).
Another point to be made, Kevin Parker's voice sounds quite analogous to that of John Lennon's, as his high pitched voice is one of the highlights of this album. You can say his voice is one of the core instruments on this record, as he sings melodically, hits high notes and gives an overall stellar vocal performance. Other than that, the music of this record is mainly anachronistic retro rock that draws influence from garage rock and bluesy guitar riffs by Cream or Led Zeppelin, most notably in the song 'The Bold Arrow of Time'. There is a great deal of synthesiser effects that complement the music spectacularly in every track, either in the odd bridge of the album closer as well as the spacey pop-rock single 'Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind?', as well as the breakbeat drums on the track 'Alter Ego'. There are some songs with basic pop structures such as in the catchy 'Solitude is Bliss' and 'Lucidity', but the band doesn't take this route often as the music can evolve into never-ending jam sessions such as the in the codas of 'Runway, Houses, City, Clouds' and 'Expectation', and the beautiful instrumental, 'Jeremy's Storm'.
The album is devoid of any bad tracks, and even the weaker tracks on here pack a punch. Each song flows into one another gracefully, taking its time and not prolonging its stay. The psychedelic aesthetic of this album is breathtaking, as each track offers something unique, which is what makes this record an excellent and cohesive one. Although not exactly original in its ambitions and results, the songwriting and musicianship in this album are fantastic, and I would recommend it to anyone who isn't familiar with psychedelic rock and is looking for a sort of "gateway drug" into that type of music. Innerspeaker may be outshined by Tame Impala's subsequent releases in some aspects, but in my humble opinion, it is Kevin Parker's magnum opus, and shows him at the peak of his creativity and audacity.
Recommended tracks:
It's Not Meant To Be
Alter Ego
Runway, Houses, City, Clouds
Expectation
Lucidity
