Tame Impala: Lonerism

Lonerism might actually be the platonic ideal of an indie record in the 2010s. The lyrics carry obscure meanings that are left to the listener to decipher. The music soars with synthy, loopy goodness. The structures of the songs seem to change abruptly, and tracks seem to flow directly outward from one another, only leaving a change in mood to determine that a new song has begun. It follows its own path, basically. It has that "Dude, you must have been so high when you made this" quality, but I suspect they weren't. It may be strange and warped, but you have to be pretty focused and clear-headed to get it all just right like they do here. The songs are grounded by a backbeat that sometimes invokes Motown or 70s funk. I definitely hear where people are comparing this to Revolver-era Beatles (the lyrics seem like an extrapolation of "She Said She Said") but that's only part of the equation, so I would say it's also got something to do with Curtis Mayfield. It has that basis, but it's way down there beneath the spaceyness. It's like a sunnier Dark Side of the Moon.

It can be hard to be patient with an album like this. I bought it on a whim and listened to it once and I really did not understand what I was hearing. It can be challenging to give the necessary due to a band that so fully follows its own whims. I bring a certain amount of baggage to every album, as I think most listeners do, and its up to us to be able to put it away and stop resisting, stop expecting to be impressed with yet another expected version of something we know. At first I thought, "shit, these guys are just noodling around with loops," but there's a real solidity to the construction of this album, a genuineness of purpose. It isn't just "One weird thing after another." If you let yourself be carried by it, it will take you someplace interesting.

That's not to say, at long last, there aren't tunes to go with it. "Elephant" is a standout, not the least because its gritty, pared-down, menacing psychedelia hardly sounds like the rest of the album's ostentatious attack, but it's a natural curb on the album's flightier tendancies, especially coming off "Keep on Lying," which is kind of the definitive track here, the way it builds to a trance-inducing coda. Kevin Parker's voice really comes out on "Why Won't They Talk to Me," and "Apocalypse Dreams" is the early standout to get you into the album. Check out the bass and drum groove of "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards," the way it sets against the leads and vocals.

The upside of an album like this is that though it puts up a difficult front, if you stick with it, multiple listens reveal a lot of greatness. And then, because there is so much scenery, that greatness feels fresh every time you listen to it.