Tame Impala has a lot to live up to after their 2010 Innerspeaker took the Internet by storm. The record was brilliantly psychedelic, glued together by modern indie sensibility. But with any stellar debut effort, a band often falls short of the bar they first set. The Australian band has set out to dispel that misconception, though, with their brand spankin’ new sophomore album, Lonerism. With a sound already indebted to the ’70s, there is no doubt this group of musicians faced an up hill battle in restoring a fresh sound for a whole new full-length.
After getting through half of Lonerism, I can confirm that Tame Impala remains one of the most talented bands on the indie scene. Despite facing the pressures of selling more albums after such an impressive first album, the Perth natives failed to sell out in even the slightest. Their sound remains raw and unaltered-something so many bands have given into over the years. You can thank both Kevin Parker on production and David Fridmann on the mix for that. As you can tell, I am excited about this record, and rightfully so.
Stream Lonerism over at NPR now. It will be available for purchase on Oct. 9.