TV Girl - "Who Really Cares" (2016)

 

Continuing on with the Primavera line-up, another artist I've gone back to a few times is TV Girl. The band are fairly high up on the poster and have a couple of songs with over a billion streams on Spotify, so I'm surprised that I haven't really heard anything about them before. From their Wikipedia page, they're Californian and blew up on bandcamp, and still to this day entirely independent. Not much else on them is readily available. I've listened to a couple of their records, and this is the one that has those big streaming songs - and therefore the one I've pain the most attention to.

Who Really Cares is best described as an indie pop record that draws from a lot of 90's alternative scenes, a bit of neo-psychedelia, a bit of alt dance, a bit of trip hop and electronica. What results is a very light and summery sounding album that's very easy on the ears when I've had it on in the background while working or out on a walk in the sunshine. However, when listening to it with a bit more attention in order to talk about it here, the cracks have really started to show for me.

While the genres that TV Girl are calling back to are all ones that I'm a big fan off, they don't really do all that much with these styles other than the surface level basics, making the whole aesthetic of the album feel rather derivative and half baked. I don't think this would be quite as notable if it was a crop of really well written and engaging songs, but the tunes are really just not there. The songwriting is pretty basic and very much relying on the tropes of the genres being called back to to give them some personality that wouldn't be there otherwise. I think what has really soured my opinion of the record was paying more attention to the lyrics. They basically read as a shitty guy being bitter and jealous of an ex. There's no story or interesting angle here, and the whole thing comes off pretty immature and just rubs me wrong way.

The songs I like the most on the record are the ones that lean into the looser and dancier neo-psych and alt dance genres. Opener Taking What's Not Yours is build around a jazzy horn sample and a breakbeat loop, and features some of the better lyrics on the record about the stuff left behind at an ex partners place after a breakup, with a reference to an unread copy Gravity's Rainbow to highlight the protagonists pretentiousness. (Do The) Act Like You've Never Met Me has a textbook jangly baggy/Madchester groove that I can find myself getting into (even if it is the most by the numbers version of it possible). The layered up synths, gentle breakbeat and warbly sampled background vocals sound straight out of an Ibiza chillout room.

Who Really Cares is an album of diminishing returns. On first listen when not paying to much attention, I liked the dreamy and chilled out vibe. On the second, I noticed the stylistic derivativeness. On my most recent listens while writing this, I've grown tired of the unimaginative songwriting and the boring and kind of shitty lyrical content. Maybe TV Girls stuff will hit a little more after a few pints in the sun, but on tape it really struggles to make an impression.

Top Tracks: Taking What's Not Yours

4/10

Big Thief - "Double Infinity" (2025)

 

Next up on the Primavera docket is Double Infinity, the 2025 album from indie folk outfit, Big Thief. I have been listening to a lot of artists on the line up who's names I know but have never listened to before and Big Thief has been one of the ones I have been gravitating towards for relistens. Apparently, their previous album to this, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, is regarded as their best - but as an 80 minute double album I've been more inclined to put this one on as it fits in with when and how I listen to music these days.

Double Infinity is a laid back and hazy record, with the 9 tracks here layered in reverby, vaguely psychedelic production and Adrianne Lenker's twangy, mid-western vocals diving in and out of the mixes. The opener, Incomprehensible, tells the story of a car journey back from Lenker's grandmother's, where she's reminiscing about times past when she was younger and thinking about what is to come in her future. The layers of breezy guitar lines and twinkling chime bells really add to the nostalgic atmosphere. The loose, groovy drumming and jangly guitars of the following track Words give a very 90's indie / slacker rock vibe and they also similarly build to a noisy crescendo during the choruses. Much of the first half of the record leans into this soft, throwback folk and indie rock sound - perfect for a mid-afternoon slot at a festival. Los Angeles is more on the folk and americana side of things, with slow burning guitars and a chugging base line; and All Night All Day features congas as part of the percussion and pairs it with twinkly and reverby guitars.

The record really hits its stride at the mid-point, with the title track and No Fear. Double Infinity strips back a lot of the layers to let Adrianne's impassioned vocals shine through. The track returns to the themes of past and future, comparing them to two infinities - what was lost, and what is yet to come. The instrumentation slowly grows with intensity as the track progresses, making the song feel quite triumphant in a bittersweet kind of way. No Fear follows this by slowing the record right down and playing with the texture and timbre of the music over the course of the 7 minute tune. The song opens with a minute and a half intro with a repeated moody bass riff that really lets you sink into the atmosphere of the song. The track slowly introduces Adrianne's sultry vocals and noisy additional guitars that layer up as the song progresses. It is eery but very warm sounding song, like finding some tranquil haven in the depths of a dense forest.

Unfortunately past this point in the record, it somewhat loses my interest, as I feel like it's shown me all it has to offer and has nothing else up it's sleeve. Grandmother is another woozy indie folk jam that doesn't do all that much with it's 6 minute runtime even with the inclusion of ambient pioneer Laraaji on backing vocals. The jangle pop of Happy With You is definitely my kind of thing on paper, but the vocals on the song are incredibly repetitive. It's so overbearing that it must be the point, but it really doesn't work and makes the song a bit annoying to be honest. How Could I Have Known returns to a more stripped back folksy style to close the album out, and is certainly better than the last two tracks, but it doesn't really do enough to reengage me in the records final moments.

I'm glad I've given the time to Double Infinity, as there is stuff here that I do like that probably would've just breezed past if I hadn't given it multiple listens. But as whole record, it's a bit hit and miss and honestly a little too soft and dependant on it's laid back production for my taste. It can quite easily descend into background music if I'm not intentionally listening; which is probably why I've gravitated to it while I've been working, but struggling to really dig into the lyrics and themes when giving it my sole focus. I'm definitely going to check out Big Theif's set as I think it'll be a good time, but I'm not sure I'll put Double Infinity on again in full after I return home.

Top Tracks: Incomprehensible, Words, Double Infinity, No Fear

6/10

Gorillaz - "The Mountain" (2026)

Gorillaz' post hiatus records have been a bit hit and miss, with the project feeling like it lacked a consistent direction from album to album. Humanz stuck out like a sore thumb with its darker, more drab atmosphere on first release. And while musically it has aged better than I ever thought it would, lyrically it sounds so dated with it's core conceit of "what if Trump won the 2016 election" when we've had a decade of the man dominating the news cycle. It is also too long and a complete mess, jumping from style to style with no cohesion between tracks. The Now Now was a sort of half course correct, being are more stripped back, simpler album with less features and a more consistent vibe. There's some good songs on there, but as a whole it is a fairly forgettable release from the band that drew comparisons to 2010's The Fall (a somewhat throwaway side album that Damon Recorded on his Ipad while on tour for Plastic Beach).

Song Machine was a complete change of pace, with Damon and Jamie eschewing the traditional album rollout for a series of 'episodes' comprised of a standalone track built around the style and skillset of the song's feature. This resulted in the best crop of Gorillaz songs since Plastic Beach, but removed any of the broader themes and imagery the project is known for. A season 2 was in the works, but for some reason was scrapped in favour of a more traditional record, Cracker Island, that leaned back into the cartoon band's 'lore' for the first time in a while, but really didn't do much with it's occult theme and is honestly the most tired and by the numbers Gorillaz album yet.

The Mountain, is once again another switch in direction for the band, with the first rumblings of the record a couple of years ago claiming that it would be a spiritual sequel to Plastic Beach. And in some ways it very much is. The record is a big, ornate sounding album that is start studded with features, and has some core themes that run throughout without being too restrictive to date the album. But The Mountain is very much its own beast, with two distinct factors that really make it stand out from the previous Gorillaz cannon. The first is that, following on from a couple of trips to India that Jamie and Damon took, the record features a notable influence from traditional and contemporary Indian music genres - which is something entirely new to the band. The second is that the record features a core theme on death and the afterlife (inspired by both Damon and Jamie losing their fathers in the run up to recording), and such Damon has decided to dig the Gorillaz archives for recordings from previous collaborators who have since passed themselves. These posthumous features are all very tastefully included and to someone not in the know, would just feel like they were recorded for the album and not repurposed from sessions from decades past.

The record opens up similarly to Plastic Beach with a big ornate, orchestral intro. However in the place of the swooning strings of the Sinfonia Viva Orchestra is an ensemble of Indian and Indian-origin musicians playing a piece in the style of traditional Indian classical music. What results is quite an eery and mysterious opening to the record which leads into the next track, The Moon Cave, perfectly. The core of the The Moon Cave is textbook modern Gorillaz: dreamy, whimsical synthpop with a few extra elements thrown in to spice things up. The sitars and flutes continue on from the title track, and are meshed with the hazy synths and a beat switch up and hip-hop verse from Black Thought and the late Dave Joliceour of De La Soul. The track is pretty low-key, but has massively grown on me since release with the dreamy atmosphere and themes around going to 'the moon cave' as a sort of place to metaphorically wash yourself in the water there and let go of the past to make a fresh start.

The next song on the record, The Happy Dictator featuring Sparks, was released as the lead single and is the first of several that deal in the record's other major theme - that of power, control, autocrats and false prophets. Inspired by how Sapamurat Niyazov, the dictator of Turkmenistan from the dissolution of the USSR to his death in 2006, banned bad news in the country as a form of control over his subjects. The track plays into Sparks typical zaniness and pairs it with synthy Gorillaz sound, and because of that very much felt like a Song Machine off-cut on first listen. It certainly works well within the albums context, but I wouldn't say it is the strongest Gorillaz single out there. The God of Lying, featuring Joe Talbot of IDLES, falls into similar territory for me. The Track is built around a dubby off-kilter rhythm that feels like a softer Clint Eastwood, but lacks the punch and genuine weirdness that made the song stand out so vividly 25 years ago. Talbot is also doing his more dejected 'arty' approach to the vocals that has characterised the more recent IDLES records, but its a style I just don't think off he pulls off in much of an interesting way. His strength was always in the rage and fury of the early IDLES records, not this much more wordy, 'tasteful' approach. The song is by no means bad, but taken in isolation outside of the album just feels like an echo of previous Gorillaz highs.

The Hardest Thing and Orange County are a pair of songs that sit together between The Happy Dictator and The God of Lying, and follow more in the line of The Moon Cave revolving around coming to terms with grief and loss. They are a sombre and melancholic duo, with The Hardest Thing essentially serving as a triumphant woodwind and trumpet intro to the more poppy and uptempo Orange County. The songs are direct in their message about letting go of a mentor figure and the worries about living up to their legacy, and very much hit the spot - they feel very end credits-y. As the middle of the record approaches, the two themes start to meld together with The Empty Dream Machine, where Damon as 2D sings about the struggle to come to terms with grief and the desire to look for external solutions to the pain. The song has subtle Indian influences but is one of those moody, slightly autotuned R&B cuts that are always my least favourite on a Gorillaz album. It's fine but does nothing for me.

It's only when we get to The Manifesto that I feel like the album is doing something truly new for a Gorillaz record. The song is a seven minute, multipart banger that initially fuses Indian pop with Latin Rap courtesy of guest rapper Trueno, but then half way through flips on its lid into a hardcore hip-hop beat and a posthumous verse from D-12's Proof recorded when he was stranded in London with Damon in London in the wake of 9/11. The verse does feel slightly shoehorned in to fit the albums themes, but you can really feel the rage and fury in Proof's vocals that it doesn't really matter to me. The song then flips back into dramatic, dancey final section to close it out. The only song that goes nearly as hard as The Manifesto is Damascus, featuring Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bay (aka Mos Def). The song is built off demos from the Plastic Beach era, and with the Yasiin Bay feature it really feels like Sweepstakes part 2. I really like the song and the Arabian influence is really cool, but the way it builds and builds to a frenzied climax is one for one Sweepstakes. I can say the same thing about Delirium, featuring Mark E. Smith. Mark's vocals are clearly taken from the Glitter Freeze sessions, resulting in the song following its lead. I'm fine with that, as Glitter Freeze is a really unique song and more of that is welcome - but I wouldn't say it's something new and ground-breaking for the group.

To continue with the Plastic Beach comparisons, my only real complaint with that record is that the final leg feels a little drawn out (despite there not really being any one song to single out as weaker than the rest), and I feel the same about The Mountain. The Shadowy light is a synth-driven doo-wap ballad about accepting that everything and everyone comes to an end at some point, and features some of the most prominent Indian language vocals on the record by Asha Bholse, but the overall tune I can take or leave. Similarly Casablanca and The Sweet Prince are dreamy, dreary synthpop tunes that breeze by this point in the tracklist (the album is over an hour long, so the fact that it slows down in the final leg really stands out). Luckily The Mountain ends pretty strongly with The Sad God, which really wraps up the albums themes in a nice little bow, being from the perspective of a benign god looking down at the world and lamenting in all the man made horrors that we as a species have created. It musically calls back to the title track making the whole experience feel very complete. It might actually be the best closer to a Gorillaz record thus far (Pirate Jet is a better song, but feels more like a coda than a closer to me).

The Mountain is a bit of a mountain of a record, but I'm enjoying that for the first time since Plastic Beach, there is more to engage with on a conceptual level. It's not some era defining staple that Demon Days and Plastic Beach have become, but it's certainly a lot more interesting than most of Gorillaz' post-hiatus work. It does feel like it's living slightly in the shadow of Plastic Beach especially (with how much it clearly draws from those sessions and collaborators), and there aren't really any songs (bar The Manifesto) that show their strengths when taken out of the album context. It's almost the inverse of Song Machine. That record is pretty much all bangers but I very rarely listen to it as a full album because there's no cohesive theme or throughline. Whereas The Mountain really works as an album, but not as a collection of songs in isolation. I'm intrigued where Damon and Jamie go next with the project, because they certainly seem more invigorated with this record in interviews than they had been with the last few.

Top Tracks: The Mountain, The Moon Cave, The Hardest Thing, Orange County, The Manifesto, Delirium, Damascus, The Sad God

7/10

Magdalena Bay - "Imaginal Disk" (2024)

I've got to thank Tiktok for this one. I knew absolutely nothing about the synth pop duo prior to the release of this record (their second), and immediately upon release my Tiktok was filled up with videos claiming it to be the best record of the year. And as I have been on a bit of a pop-girl kick this year (BRAT review will be coming at some point, and maybe a few others if I get time), I decided to check this out. I am so glad I did, as I can totally see where all those Tiktoks were coming from and it probably would've been my favourite record this year if the new Cure album that has just come out didn't turn out as well as it has.

The sound of Imaginal Disk is a kaleidoscopic collage of early 00's synth pop and dance pop, indietronica, psych pop and progressive pop, and even a bit of chillwave and late 90's female singer/songwriters. It is such a tightly written and amazingly produced record. Every track has so much attention to detail, little quirks, and leftfield switch-ups or unique progressions that makes the record envelop you, as you get lost in the sound. The tracks seamlessly flow into each other, making the album feel like a real cinematic journey over its 53min runtime.

Lyrically and thematically, the record is just as ambitious, exploring the ideas of an idealised 'perfect' sense of self and struggle between chasing the idea that we have to be perfect to be happy (or to please others) and forging your own unique path where you can be fulfilled without fitting neatly into a predefined box. Going hand in hand with this is a lot of lyrical focus on the difficulty discerning between 'true love' and love and companionship out of convivence and comfort and whether the former is actually real and obtainable, and the latter inauthentic and ultimately unfulfilling. These ideas are left open ended, which I think really adds to the experience of the record as if its almost trying to get you to ponder these concepts yourself as opposed to just throwing them at you as a definitive worldview. They're also not really obvious on first listen, rather layered into the subtext, which is giving the record huge replay value for me.

The first leg of the record is phenomenal, opening with building opener She Looked Like Me!. The first half of the song builds up with glitchy synths and booming drums, before switching up into a tension building second half with triumphant horns. The lyrics depict a strange encounter with the protagonists doppleganger, and the existential reflection on ones own uniqueness and identity. This leads into the woozy and groovy Killing Time, which explores the themes of 'killing time' and constantly putting of dreams and waiting for the ideal moment. The dreamy Enya-sounding True Blue Interlude segues this into the album's lead single, Image. The song is an absolute banger of an alt-dance tune with an infectious groove and Mica Tenebaum's silky smooth vocals gliding above the beat. "Ooooh my God, Make me in your image" is the leading hook and damn it sounds so sexy. Death & Romance follows straight after and somehow tops Image. The house-esque staccato piano hits, spacy synths and Mica's vocals sounding like Kylie give the song a very 00s dance-pop feel. The track just keeps ascending and ascending to this euphoric place - which juxtaposes the ecstatic feel against some quite heavy lyrics pondering whether there is anything more to life beyond the songs title. This run comes to a close with Fear, Sex, which serves as an outro to Death & Romance that unwinds the beat and reworks it into something more sinister as the driving forces of death and romance are presented under a different light - being fear and sex.

Other highlights include the sombre and sprawling ballad, Watching T.V. (a track about the prevailing fear during the 2000's that watching too much T.V is mentally damaging and also the idea of losing yourself in the screen while avoiding reality) and the epic Tunnel Vision. The song starts out as quite a stripped back synth pop song with chiming synths, before the protagonist realises that they are developing tunnel vision in their life and that they need to get out. At this point the song flips on its head for a hypnotic space rock outro. The thick, heavy base and skittering, lazer-like effects sound so sinister and menacing. This is followed by the super light and breezy synth funk jam, Love Is Everywhere, a perfect antidote to the darker middle section of the record of the record that has preceded it. The bombastic dance pop vibes return with the very in your face That's My Floor, a track all about taking life by the scruff of it's neck and making it your dancefloor. It's kinda garish but in the best way, with a sitar middle section and a scratchy funk-rock guitar outro. Similarly, Cry for Me is a straight up throwback to the groovey Nu-Disco of the early 00's and is great fun.

The record closes with Angel on a Satellite and The Ballad of Matt & Mica. Angel on a Satellite strips out all the synths for an approach akin to late 90's pop-leaning singer / songwriters. The song is a nice change of pace for the record and really highlights the emotionality of the lyrics of trying to forge your own path against the metaphysical will of an 'angel on a satellite' above you. All of the records themes are tied up and brought into the real world with The Ballad of Matt & Mica, a joyous ode to the duo, their friendship and their pursuit of the dreams over a pre-determined 'easy life'.

What I truely admire about Imaginal Disk, is that as heavy and thoughtful the lyrics and themes of the record, it is so thoroughly enjoyable and uplifting. Literally every time I put it on, I come away in a better mood than when I started. That is on top of how intricate and well constructed it is, alongside that it is damn catchy. I'm so glad that I've been turned onto Magdalena Bay because this album is such a refreshing and unique experience.

Top Tracks: She Looked Like Me!, Killing Time, True Blue Interlude, Image, Death & Romance, Fear, Sex, Watching T.V., Tunnel Vision, Love Is Everywhere, That's My Floor, Cry For Me, Angel on a Satellite, The Ballad of Matt & Mica.

9/10

Declan McKenna - "What Happened to the Beach?" (2024)

Declan McKenna's first two records were albums that showed promise, with a handful of impeccable songs on each, but were contained within messy records that felt less than the sum of their parts overall. I liked him enough that I was always going to check out his third record, but I am pleasantly surprised by how into it I am, and how frequently I have been giving it a spin in the months since its release.

On What Happened to the Beach?, Declan has ditched a lot of the glam rock aesthetics that characterised his previous release, Zeros; replacing them with influences of 60's psychedelic pop and sunshine pop, alongside more modern neo-pysche and hypnagogic pop. I can here shades of The Kinks, The Beatles, MGMT and a whole host of others on the these tracks, and I think this vibe suits Declan's persona much better. On WHTTB? Declan comes across like some weird Hollywood old-timer, who's spent a little too much time in the sun and is just on a planet of his own. He sells this subtle off-kilter weirdness so much more easily than the ostentatious glam rockstar he was playing on Zeros. Similarly, the hit or miss social commentary of Declan's previous work is largely absent, replaced with more personal and introspective lyrics mostly focusing on the social disconnect and pressure of expectations that come with fame. All of this together creates a woozy and hazy vibe, like some sort of summer malaise.

The record opens with the worbly and distorted intro track, WOBBLE, where the album title is repeated again and again, before launching into the breezy but moody Elevator Hum. This track, alongside Mullholland's Dinner and Wine capture this summery yet melancholic vibe perfectly. Both have this feeling of existential longing to them, and are the best tracks on the album. On Elevator Hum. glistening synths are set against a trip-hoppy breakbeat and faint distorted horns that finally poke through the mix towards the end of the track. Mullholland's Dinner and Wine similarly fuses a chill synth-funk bassline with woozy distorted horns and some really existential lyrics where Declan describes all of the things fame has given him but how he's still not satisfied.

There are some other great moments on the first half of the record. I Write The News starts off as a Lennon-esque acoustic guitar cut with lyrics that in typical Lennon fashion appear to be profound on the surface, but are actually just nonsense upon closer inspection. The track then flips on its head, with the guitar swapped out for bouncy psychedelic synths. Nothing Works is a catchy indie pop rock tune, with fuzzed out and noisy production that gives it a real sense of energy that matches some of Declan's biggest hits. This is followed by the raucous The Phantom Buzz (Kick In), which is about the last remnant of the glam rock aesthetic of Zeros. The guitars roar and Declan Howls on the mic.

Not everything on the record lands as well as these moments. Lead single Sympathy is such a straightforward sunshine pop tune, it feels kind of derivative and lacks any of the genuine oddball energy that permeates the best of the record. It just sounds like a Kinks pastiche in all honesty. Breath of Light feels like an attempt at the weirder, uncommercial side of MGMT's music, and is fine but nothing particularly interesting. Honest Test is a crooning lounge pop song that reminds me of Arctic Monkey's excursions into the genre, although I'd say its closer to one of the duds on The Car than the genuinely interestingly written stuff on Tranquillity Base. 

The record comes to quite a sleepy and uneventful close, although the final couple of songs have grown on me to an extent. The gentle acoustic guitars and simple vocal melodies of Mezzanine have such a low-key summery vibe, and the subtle swelling of horns and electric guitar as the song progresses is actually really nice. The penultimate track, It's An Act, is in effect the closer, as the final track is essentially just a short little coda, and is perfectly serviceable, although pretty uneventful and unimpactful.

I feel like Declan has found a sound that really fits him on this record, and has produced his most consistently enjoyable album thus far. Not every song hits as hard as others, and there are points that feel a little derivative, but its a good time with more wins than losses.

Top Tracks: Elevator Hum, I Write The News, Mullholland's Dinner and Wine, Nothing Works, The Phantom Buzz

7/10

Queens of the Stone Age - "In Times New Roman..." (2023)

It's been 6 years since the last QOTSA record, Villains, in which a lot has happened in the world and in Josh Homme's life personally. Grieving the deaths of several friends and battling cancer himself (which he has since recovered from), all while undergoing a messy divorce; Homme was simply not in the mood to make music. The last point I want to dig into a little further, as it's important not to gloss over difficult topics and 'separate the art from the artist', particularly when this album is clearly shaped by the divorce. Josh's ex-wife Brody Dalle (frontwoman of punk band The Distillers) filed for divorce citing Homme's drug and alcohol usage. During the divorce proceedings she accused Josh of violence towards their children and filed a restraining order on their behalf them, which was subsequently overturned. Josh has now sole custardy of the children and it has been reported that Dalle's current boyfriend forged the restraining orders, however Josh has a history of violent and aggressive behaviour while under the influence so it wouldn't be the hardest thing to imagine - it might just be the case that Josh is the more famous of the two and can afford the better lawyers. I doubt we will ever get the full story, but it's certainly not happy families.

In Times New Roman... follows this turbulent period and is evidently shaped by it, being quite a brooding and jaded record following up on the themes of the impermanence of the world and the people in it established on 2013's stellar ...Like Clockwork. The record as a whole feels much like an amalgamation of Queen's work since Lullabies To Paralyse. It has the sinister and creepy atmosphere from that album, Era Vulgaris' wonkey and weird production, the themes and art rock elements from ...Like Clockwork, and even incorporates some of the glam rock camp from Villains.

Obscenery sets the scene with scrappy guitar led verses leading into cinematic string-laden choruses. The chunky, lopsided production of the song leads you into the albums uneasy and distrustful world, always keeping you just a little bit on edge. This leads into the thrashing rager of Paper Machete. The track is the simplest on the record, being a straightforward alt rock banger akin to some of the bands big hits from the naughties. Time & Place plays with dual time signatures and results in a super groovy and driving tune that spirals into a hypnotic trance. Carnavoyeur is the big cinematic centrepiece of the record, with spooky synths, dramatic vocals and soaring strings. What The Peephole Say is the most tongue in cheek song on the record. It's a cheesy glam throwback song and is just an absolute blast. It would probably fit more at home on Villains with how much lighter it is compared to the rest of the album, but its just so much fun. The record cumulates with its 9-minute behemoth closer, Straight Jacket Fitting. The song encapsulates the albums atmosphere perfectly, progressing through a messy and stumbling first section into a swaggering blues rock second part which slowly phases into a dramatic and anthemic string-backed third portion before circling back to the wonky and uneasy first part, before a final moody acoustic guitar passage closes the album out.

Even the weaker tracks on here have some really interesting ideas and moments that I love, even if the whole tracks don't fully come together. Negative Space has a great chorus reminiscent of the ones on ..LC, as does the lead single Emotion Sickness. "People come and go on the breeze / For a whole life? Possibly..." is one of the best lines on the whole record. Sicily is an incredibly dynamic song with a really creepy atmosphere and only really needs a bit more of a memorable hook to draw me in. And finally, Made to Parade is quite a sluggish plodding song (clearly emulating a parade march) and doesn't do much for me, until about 2/3 of the way through it changes key into its climax, which hits like a truck and I absolutely love.

In Times New Roman... is another good record from Queens, who's releases never really dip too much in quality. Its broody and sinister, and a little bit cynical and definitely hits the mark for me as a whole package. Not every individual moment is the best the band has ever been (both Songs for the Deaf and ...Like Clockwork take a lot of beating), but is still a really solid record on the whole. And the circumstances surrounding the creation of the record are also worth discussing, as regardless of what the truth of what happened during the divorce, there is a longstanding culture of sweeping problematic issues under the rug, particularly involving established rockstars with a legacy and influence (Go look up the 70's LA "baby groupie" scene). Anyway, that's a bit of tangent - the QOTSA album is good.

Top Tracks: Obscenery, Paper Machete, Time & Place, Carnavoyeur, What The Peephole Say, Straight Jacket Fitting

7/10

Gorillaz - "Cracker Island" (2023)

After 2020's Song Machine project brought some of the magic back to Gorillaz that has been missing since the group came back from hiatus, I was really anticipating the already teased Season 2. That series, it turns out, has been aborted in favour of a more traditional album roll-out with a record with a more cohesive theme and tone. You wouldn't have guessed it, however, from the first couple of singles, which very much give off Song Machine vibes. The title track, featuring Thundercat, hits all of the check boxes for a song machine track - a core song idea based around the feature's skillset and moulding the Gorillaz elements around it. The second single, New Gold, featuring Tame Impala and Bootie Brown, was even teased way back before we knew whether Song Machine Season 1 was going to result in a full album. Both songs are really great, catchy alt-dance tunes that use their features really well. The backing vocals from Thundercat and Tame Impala really mesh well with the songs and perfectly bring them into the 'Gorillaz-verse'. And maybe it's just the Bootie Brown feature, but New Gold really gives me Demon Days vibes with its general feel and groove.

However, the rest of the album is nothing like this - hence why it does kind of feel like half an aborted Song Machine Season 2 and half something else. Pretty much the entire rest of the album is sleepy, melancholic electro pop akin to The Now Now from 2018. Between the title track, which opens up the album, and New Gold there are three songs that very much hit this washed out synth-y vibe: Oil, The Tired Influencer and Silent Running. Silent Running is easily the best of the three, by virtue of being the one that is the least washed out and has the best hook, but they all leave something to be desired. Oil relegates Stevie Nicks' feature to some quiet backing vocals, which feels like so much wasted potential; and the washed out synth pop style isn't exactly something that I think would get the best out of her. I'd have much rather had a Song Machine-esque song that sounds like an homage to Fleetwood Mac featuring Stevie instead. 

Both Oil and The Tired Influencer revolve around capitalistic consumption and celebrity culture, which are themes that have been well-tread by Gorillaz ever since their debut - and these songs don't add anything that the group hasn't already said before. The theming is a recurring problem throughout the album. For a record called Cracker Island and literally features Murdoch and 2D in full blown cult gear it does very little with this idea. The odd comment on internet influencers and consumer culture and that's the extent of it. Plastic Beach, this is not.

The second half does not fair much better, unfortunately. Baby Queen is about when Damon Albarn met The Queen of Thailand as a teenager in the 90s and wondering if he would meet her again some time. In theory it is a cute idea for a song, but the song itself is just another sleepy synth pop ballad that has nothing that interesting about it musically. It also feels very un-Gorillaz-y for a Gorillaz song, like it's too real of an experience without the filter of that cartoon universe. Tarantula passes me by on every listen, and Tormenta is a half-baked reggeaton song featuring Porto Rican rapper Bad Bunny. It is a nice change of pace from all the washed out electro pop (the change of pace also makes sense as it was another song that was recorded for the scrapped Song Machine S2), but on it's own merits the song feels pretty unfinished and unremarkable. Following these two is Skinny Ape, which is a song that just really grates on me for some reason. The song starts off as this twangy and bouncy 2000s-esque indie pop song, but the vocal melody just sounds like Damon Album shamelessly ripping off MGMT's Kids and just trying to make it just wacky and 'Gorillaz-y' enough to get away with it. The track progresses into a much noisier, blown out dance climax which I prefer much more than the first half - but the self-referential lyrics "I'm a skinny little, skinny little, skinny little, skinny little ape" feel like a silly joke more than anything meaningful.

The acoustic closer, Possession Island, is a degree better than most of the second half, as it feels a little more impactful as it slowly layers up and builds into a slight mariachi sway. 2D's vocals, singing "We're all in this together to the end" certainly makes it feel like a closer. It's certainly not the strongest song the band has written, and Beck is dramatically underutilised (he's basically non-existent on the song), but it is certainly more interesting than the rest of the second half. Much like most of the Gorillaz releases post-hiatus, there is a deluxe edition with a few bonus songs. These tracks have a bit more colour than most of the album tracks, but all feel somewhat unfinished and so aren't as essential as the bonus tracks on Song Machine for example.

Cracker Island feels like a bit of a missfire to be honest. Outside of the first two singles, the record feels quite underdeveloped and redundant. While nothing here is particularly bad (and so outclasses the record compared to the complete mess that is Humanz), it gives me nothing that previous Gorillaz albums haven't already done better. I honestly think I prefer The Now Now to this simply because that record felt a bit more mysterious and whimsical. Time for the group to re-try Song Machine S2 I think.

Top Tracks: Cracker Island, New Gold

5/10

Wet Leg - "Wet Leg" (2022)

With the return of all things 2000s over the past couple of years, including pop punk and nu-disco dance pop, it's no surprise that Wet Leg have been hyped up as the harbingers of the return of 2000's indie rock. Breaking through with the internet hit Chaise Longue last year, a cheeky and irreverent post-punk tune with a sense of fun that the genre has seriously been lacking for the past half a decade. (As great as bands like IDLES and Fontaines D.C are, they're hardly what you'd call fun). This attitude has been carried out through the rest of the singles the band dropped and now their debut record as well.

The record also smartly avoids the trappings that sank the genre back in the late noughties, being a collection of tightly written songs that don't outstay their welcome - as opposed to the repetitive 'laddish' anthems desperate for teenage guys with dark fruits to overplay at festival campsites. The songs are produced much more in the less-is-more approach of the trailblazers of the genre like The Strokes, rather than the overly compressed, everything and the kitchen sink mess that so much 2000s rock became. Rhian Teesdale's vocals also set her apart from many of the acts the band are calling back to, dynamically shifting from a nonchalant drawl akin to Julian Casablancas to a Kate Bush-esque yelp, to spoken word, to riot grrl sarcasm and aggression. 

The opener Being In Love exemplifies this clever simplicity well, being a song about all the cliché negative feelings associated with romance - e.g. feeling sick and lethargic. But instead of comparing love to these things, the theme is inverted and Rhian lists these feelings and concludes to them feeling like being in love. Combined with the swirling, detuned guitar lines; it makes the track a whole lot of fun. The irreverence of Chaise Longue is carried through the other singles with Angelica being about shit parties in your mid-20s where no-one knows whether to go wild like they used to or to act like sophisticated adults and bring some lasagne. The track has this thick and noisy post chorus instrumentation that is surprisingly heavy. Wet Dream sees Teesdale imagine what a certain guy's fantasies may be, with ridiculous scenarios described over a catchy dance-punk groove. Ur Mum, much like Chaise Longue, is a simple post-punk tune with some glorious lyrics tearing into an ex-lover who just lazes around smoking weed all day. "I feel sorry for your mum" is as about as blunt as it can get. The song closes out with Rhian proclaiming to give her longest and loudest scream, before going ahead and showing us. All of these songs are just so fun and catchy.

The slower tracks also hold up pretty well too, leaning into the more neo-psych territory. I Don't Wanna Go Out ebbs and flows through its lose and swirling structure. The track is about growing out of party culture and feels like the hazy hangover that becomes more frequent as you get older. Loving You and Piece Of Shit are cathartically bitter ballads about shitty guys, matched to lethargic and hazy guitars. The closer Too Late Now is also a bit more of a slow builder, despite in actuality being about the same length as all the other songs. The song is about the uncertainty and pressures of young adult life, and how sometimes you only need simple pleasures despite what is told to us. The track builds in pace from a sluggish first verse, into a tense spoken word middle section, before exploding for the remainder of the tune.

There are a couple of moments where the record feels a little derivative, primarily the repetitive 2 chord garage rock riff of Oh No (despite some great lyrics and vocal moments from Teesdale) and the underwritten Supermarket. Supermarket really feels like filler to be honest, it's repetitive and not all that catchy or unique - especially compared to some of the earworm singles earlier on in the record.

Wet Leg is just a fun, well written indie rock album. What it does might not be the most revolutionary thing, but it does it well. I just can't imagine anyone listening to a track like Angelica or Ur Mum and not having a smile on their face. I know it'll be in my rotation for the whole summer at the very least.

Top Tracks: Being In Love, Chaise Longue, Angelica, I Don't Wanna Go Out, Wet Dream, Loving You, Ur Mum, Piece Of Shit, Too Late Now

8/10

Primal Scream - "Screamadelica" (1991)

 

It's time for another record from my 100 albums bucket list poster, being Primal Scream's Screamadelica. This is the group's third record, and the one which broke them into the mainstream, incorporating house and other forms of dance music into the band's more traditional indie rock and neo-psychedelic approach. The record spawned the massive singles Movin' on Up, Come Together and Loaded that are absolutely everywhere; and are the tracks from the record that I was already familiar with going in. The album, quite uniquely, was written as more traditional rock songs and then reassembled into these sprawling dance tracks by producers Andrew Weatherall and Hugo Nicolson (plus a few guests). This approach gives the album a certain loose and organic feel to it, with the more natural instrumentation and samples giving a lot of texture as opposed to the more robotic and rhythmic nature of nature of late 80s and early 90s house.

The loose party atmosphere is evident from the opening jangles and Rolling Stones-esque, gospel inspired piano chords and choral backing vocals of Movin' on Up. The track layers up into this euphoric and anthemic climax that acts as an invitation into the album, with the promise that its gonna be a good time. The vibe is instantly switched up into the neo-psych meets dub meets acid house banger that is Slip Inside this House. Originially a 60s psych rock song by the 13th floor elevators, its not as high energy as Movin' on Up but more hypnotic and spacy. Don't Fight It, Feel It is more indebted to house with it's four to the floor beat, powerful soul vocals and percussive piano hits; however this also slips through multiple sections that become increasingly enchanting as they layer up. It remains interesting and super groovy for its entire 7 minute run.

At this point in the record, the band decide it's time for the first downtempo comedown to allow us to catch our breath with Higher Than the Sun. This track actually has two versions on the record, with this first one produced by ambient house innovators, The Orb. This version is much shorter than the second one, produced by Weatherall, but I think I like it more. It's dark and spacy, with these trip-hop style breakbeats and weird ambient noises. Inner Flight builds on this, turning the dark ambience of Higher Than the Sun into a more melodic and uplifting interlude. There's no vocals on the track and it sort of functions as a reset from the first leg of the record before the twin centrepieces of the record, Come Together and Loaded, barrage in with the most anthemic and feel-good party anthems the album provides.

And barrage in they truly do. Come Together opens with a building synth line and a sample of a speech by Jesse Jackson (a US political activist) where he narrates the unifying and collective experience music provides to society. The drums slowly creep in, then does the piano notes, then the wobbly psyched out synths. It builds and builds for 5 minutes, before the hook of the song rears its head and all of the tension is released. It's such a patient and well constructed dance track that keeps interest for its 10 minute runtime without throwing the kitchen sink in. Loaded goes even harder, with its iconic "We want to be free to do what we want to do, and we want to get loaded" sample and the bombastic "I've gone all delusional" hook that just pumps you up so hard against the dramatic horn sections and the return of the bluesy, gospel outro style of Movin' On Up. This time it goes even more massive and anthemic though. It really is one of those songs that turns everything up to 11 and somehow it not only works but blows your head off as well.

The back end of the record functions as a comedown from the unbelievable high of Loaded, with the acoustic ballad of Damaged; the aptly titled I'm Comin' Down; the second version of Higher Than the Sun; and the closer Shine Like Stars. Damaged and I'm Comin' Down feature far more traditional instrumentation and strip down the neo-psychedelic elements which grounds the album in the real world for a little while, and Damaged is actually a really good bluesy ballad, even if it's a stark left turn from the rest of the album so far. I'm Comin' Down makes more use of additional instrumentation and effects, but is even more melodically simple and low key. It almost feels a little too slow at points, although the track does pick up towards the end with a cool wonky sax solo. Higher Than the Sun (A Dub Symphony in Two Parts) is slower and spacier than its earlier counterpart, with a lot of reverb on everything. The breakbeats are more smothered on this versions, and it features a central break which then builds into a bassier second half. This version certainly has more elements to it than the Orb version, but it doesn't really come together into anything particularly satisfying. This leads into the closing track, Shine Like Stars, which is probably the most forgettable song on the record. It features Bobby Gillespie wistfully singing over a simple beat and psychedelic effects and really doesn't go anywhere to be honest.

It's a shame Screamademica ends on its weakest couple of tracks because the first 3/4 of it bangs so hard. It's a really great dance record that incorporates so many styles and moods that it doesn't get repetitive or tiresome. It's iconic for a reason and great record for summer. I keep coming back to it and Loaded might be the best track to start a dance party playlist with.

Top Tracks: Movin' On Up, Slip Inside this House, Don't Fight It, Feel It, Higher Than the Sun, Come Together, Loaded, Damaged

8/10

Gorillaz - "Song Machine, Season 1 - Strange Timez" (2020)

Gorillaz were one of my first musical loves, with the singles from Demon Days and their respective videos imprinted in my brain from my childhood. And as I've grown up I've only grown to love them more, as I started to understand how creative and daring the project is, with the format allowing Damon Albarn to not be confined by genre boundaries and conventions. That being said, the cartoon band's post hiatus work so far has been rather mixed, lacking (for the most part) the colour and life that permeated the group's first 3 albums. Song Machine fixes that by effectively being a series of standalone singles (and videos), completely disconnected from each other - allowing each track to be entirely its own thing. This makes each song on the record feel as colourful and unique as possible, without Albarn having to worry about the overall theme or atmosphere of the entire record. Plus some of these tracks are phenomenal.

The opening track, Strange Timez, launches us into the record with eerie, sporadic keys and The Cure's Robert Smith twisting and eccentric vocal hook, before 2D's dreamy and dejected vocals lamenting the state of the world take over for the verses. The track slowly unravels into an alt-dance groove. The track is spooky and dark, yet colourful and catchy - just like the best Gorillaz tracks. Much of the record follows in the title track's footsteps, being the best Gorillaz tracks of the revival and some up there with the classics. The following track, The Valley of The Pagans, featuring Beck, is a fun new wave romp about internet / celeb hedonism. It's super slick, groovey and colourful. Beck sells the persona of a super arrogant celebrity so well on the song. Pac-Man is funky with really video-gamey synth tones, and features a fantastic multipart verse from Schoolboy Q to close out the track. The closing track of the standard edition, Momentary Bliss, is a homage to British ska and punk, but with the trademark cartoony synths that Gorillaz are know for. Both the punk due Slaves and the rapper Slowthai also kill it on this track.

The tracks Aries and Desole are the pinnacle of the record and by far my two favourite songs of the year. Aries features drumming from UK artist Georgia and basswork from (formally) New Order's Peter Hook. The song is pure New Order worship, but the track is amazing. It is such a good New Order song that it's better than a lot of what New Order have put out, and their 80s track record is pretty great. Peter Hook's bass, 2D's dreamy and wistful vocals, and the thin ethereal synth lines; it's all there. Desole fetures elements of African Wassoulou music, with Fatoumata Diawara's beautiful lead vocals and the  dreamy Afrobeat groove. It's emotional and intense, yet restrained and full of longing.

Even the weaker tracks on the record are still fairly decent, and have elements to them I really like. The Pink Phantom has grown on me a lot since it was released as a single. It's a completely over the top and melodramatic piano balled featuring Elton John hamming it up on the vocals. On initial listens, the inclusion of the monotone, autotuned rapping from 6lack completely bewildered me; but now while I don't think it adds to the track, I don't really think it detracts from it either. Friday 13th has this really nice dreamy synth pop meets dub instrumental, although Octavian's feature is easily the least charismatic on the record and I really wish someone more colourful provided the vocals. The Lost Chord and Chalk Tablet Towers have some really good atmosphere to them (both being quite R&B infused tunes), but just lack an extra element to make them stand up against the best of the record.

I've also got to mention the Dulux Edition tracks, because they're all generally good or great. Particularly the 7 minute dance banger, Opium. The track infuses alt-dance with acid jazz and Latin music and just keeps going trough these manic, chaotic phases. Simplicity is a much more strip backed chill Latin song, and MLS is colourful and fun with really charismatic rapping from JPEGMAFIA. The closing track, How Far?, is also really good, being this sinister and carnival sounding song featuring drumming from the late Tony Allen and an angry and bitter vocal performance from Skepta.

Strange Timez is such a great return to form for Gorillaz, and while it doesn't quite reach the consistent brilliance of Demon Days and Plastic Beach due to its lack of consistent theme and atmosphere, it is undeniable that the change in format has resulted in a such a more creative and quality release than the likes of Humanz and The Now Now. It's one of  my favourite records this year.

Top Tracks: Strange Timez, The Valley of The Pagans, Pac-Man, Aries, Desole, Momentary Bliss, Opium, Simplicity, How Far?

8/10

Blur - "13" (1999)

After listing to Blur's Parklife, I moved on to listening through the rest of the group's 90s discography (their 'original stint' of sorts). I was exited when moving onto 1997's self-titled record and this one, as the group moved away from the jovial Britpop sound that characterised the 'Life' trilogy, into sounds of noise rock and art rock.

This is evident from opening track and lead single, Tender. The track is a nearly 8 minute, gospel inspired affair with choral vocals. The lyrics detail Damon Albarn's very volatile and public breakup with Elastica front-woman Justine Frischmann, and the soothing nature of the tune feels very cathartic - like a friend being there for you when you're down. A good chunk of the tracks on the record are this vulnerable and personal, which I feel sets it apart from other Blur releases. The second single, Coffee & TV, sung by guitarist Graham Coxon, details his routine for overcoming his alcohol addiction and the struggles along the way. It also is an incredibly soft and gentle song. There are more moments on the record that are this gentle and soothing, which I think makes it comparable to the Post-Britpop era of Coldplay and Travis which was just around the corner.

The track which follows Coffee & TV, Swamp Song, while addressing similar themes, could not be any different musically. It's a loud, noisy, neo-psych song which references Damon Albarn's heroin usage. It sounds delirious and confusing. The record continually switches up it's sound like this. The noisy and fuzzed out Bugman is sandwiched in between Tender and Coffee & TV. The incredibly trippy and melodically minimal 1992 and Battle slide either side of the punk-y and straightforward B.L.U.R.E.M.I. Battle in particular sounds phenomenally psychedelic and confusing, and it is then followed up by the closest thing the album has to a simple acoustic ballad in Mellow Song.

The record gets increasingly dark and sinister in the second half, with the aforementioned battle and the slowburning but cathartic Caramel. Albarn sings in hushed tones about wanting to get better, get over his drug issues and recover from the heartbreak he's feeling, but at this moment he's succumbed and claims he'll "love you forever". This is matched up with an echo-y and swampy mix and a delirious guitar line. All the tension and darkness builds to a cathartic release in No Distance Left To Run, where Damon dives deep into the breakdown of his relationship and provides some incredibly bitter and cutting lyrics referencing Frischmann's drug use in particular. "I won't kill myself trying to stay in your life" and "When you're coming down, think of me" are as sharp as a razor-blade. 

The only real drawback this album has is that it's quite long, and I feel a couple of the slightly less impactful songs on the second half could've been cut to make the record a little punchier overall. They're far from bad, but I can feel a distinction in quality between the best this record has to offer and these couple of moments. On the whole, it is just really great. It's deep and emotional, yet incredibly creative and unique. It very much rewards multiple listens, due to both it's length and the indirectness of some of its darkest moments.

Top Tracks: Tender, Bugman, Coffee & TV, Swamp Song, 1992, B.L.U.R.E.M.I, Battle, Mellow Song, Caramel, No Distance Left To Run

9/10

Tame Impala - "The Slow Rush" (2020)

While I more preferred Tame Impala's psych-rock sound of their first two LPs (I've grown to love Lonerism even more in particular since I reviewed it) to Currents' nu-disco and psyched up synth pop, I wasn't expecting Kevin Parker and co to return to it. I was also okay with it, as there were elements of Currents that I thought were great and the band could hone the sound further (much like the jump from Innerspeaker to Lonerism). For the most part, I feel that's what we've got, although there are some things holding the record back in my opinion.

The first two singles for the record dropped in early 2019, Patience and Borderline, before Parker delayed and reworked the album. This resulted in a new album version of Borderline and Patience being dropped entirely. I think this was a good move, as these singles had a very washed out and dream-poppy aesthetic, but felt rather limp and lifeless to me. The new version of Borderline is miles better, with the bass and drums pumped up and the whole song sped up. The squelchy bass and glistening keys give the song an infectious, dance-able groove. The first half of the record follows suit and provides a bunch of super groovy and psyched out songs indebted to not just disco but other forms of dance music as well, primarily house and Balearic beat.

One More Year opens up the record with chopped up, stuttering vocals, before the snappy beat fades in and Kevin's lead falsetto vocals glide on top. The lyrics intrigue me, dealing with the idea of time and what Kevin wants to achieve if he only had one more year. Perhaps it's relating to the band, and Parker is questioning if they can keep it up. The track builds momentum until the line "One more year, from today...", where the track breaks down into this effortlessly cool outro. These themes of time and achievement, and self doubt run through the album, and Kevin has clearly grown as a lyricist since Currents. The lyrics only really served the purpose of atmosphere on the bands earlier releases, but on Current's Kevin started to stretch out and tell more detailed experiences. However the lyrics on that album sometimes had a sour and wallowing tone, which is not the case here. It really feels like Kevin is writing introspective and emotional songs with more balance and less awkward self-pity.

The best example of this is my favourite song on the record, Posthumous Forgiveness. The song details Kevin's fractious relationship with his late father, and the tone of his voice excellently conveys the pain and hurt, and also the internal confusion that Parker feels towards his dad. The heavy, distorted synth line that runs throughout the song, accumulating in a massive, crushing breakdown really sell the tension and importance of this song. This leads into the second section of the song; a much breezier part where Kevin goes on to forgive his father and wish that he was still around to see all the amazing thing he is doing with the band.

Breathe Deeper, by contrast, is a much simpler song. It's an out and out dance song with an incredibly infectious groove and hook. The sparkling keys and funky bassline play off each other so well, and Kevin sounds uncharacteristically confident and swaggering on the vocals. Following this, Tomorrow's Dust slows the pace back down. The track has a very dream pop vibe, with the strummed acoustic guitar and reverb soaked instrumentation. Kevin sings about the past and how long ago and unrelatable it feels to him now, specifically referencing the bands back catalogue with the line "There's no use trying to relate to that old song".

It's at the half way point with the song On Track where the album's problems start to show. For each song I enjoy on the back half of this record, it is punctuated with one I don't care for. This completely kills the momentum of the album. On Track is the record's only ballad, and it builds up from a skeletal first verse to the chorus, which completely flat-lines and isn't memorable in the slightest. As the song progresses more instrumentation is introduced, but everything is so soaked in reverb and fader that it doesn't feel like the track really builds up as it progresses, and leaves me with the feeling of 'that was really 5 minutes?'.

Following On Track is Lost In Yesterday, a straight up disco-pop song with a catchy as all hell chorus and some excellent lyrics about losing your self in nostalgia and only embracing the past if it's beneficial and forgetting about it if it is not. The lyric "Eventually terrible memories turn into great ones" always jumps out at me on every listen. But then the track Is It True follows it. The track isn't bad, but to me it feels like it's trying to do the same thing as Breathe Deeper with a less interesting beat and a more clunky chorus. I like the switched up beat and jazzier, more loose feel to the outro, but it is just an outro, so doesn't really save the song.

It Might Be Time opens up like some kind of reverby Supertramp song, with a very 70s sounding keyboard line and Parker's high falsetto vocals. The lyrics of the song follow on from Lost In Yesterday, dealing with Kevin's fears of the bands relevancy going forward and whether he enjoys it as much as he used to. The track builds into a wall of sound as it goes on, with massive chugging drums, crunchy guitars and this wild, siren-y, distorted synth line blaring on top. It really dramatises the themes of the track.

The final track, One More Hour has a similar pop-prog feel to it. It phases through multiple sections with different instruments and effects popping in and out. The lyrics come across brutally honest, talking about Kevin's various motivations behind the band, his need for solitude every so often, and his doubts of the band's continued success and relevancy. The track builds up in intensity to the point where some noisy, distorted guitars come into the mix. It gives the ending a very shoegaze-y, ethereal atmosphere; which is furthered by the fade out at the end of the track. It makes me feel like Kevin is ascending off into the clouds.

But sandwiched between these two tracks is the completely uneventful and unnecessary interlude, Glimmer. I honestly don't know what purpose it serves, as the album is long enough as it is; and It Might Be Time and One More Year are quite tonally similar, and do not need an interlude between them. At 57 minutes, this album on the whole feels quite bloated. The weaker tracks in the second half don't feel necessary, and there's a handful of studio snippets separating some the songs that could easily come out. Quite a few of the tracks have long, extended outros, which are fine at a track by track level, but just drag the album out when listening all the way through.

The best tracks on this album are really great (and Posthumous Forgiveness is fantastic), but it does feel Kevin got a bit carried away when putting it together. It's just simply an hour long album with 45 mins worth of ideas. I don't think ill be coming to it in full very often because of this, but 45 mins of good ideas is still quite a lot of good ideas, so it's worth checking out for the highlights alone.

Top Tracks: One More Year, Borderline, Posthumous Forgiveness, Breathe Deeper, Tomorrow's Dust, Lost In Yesterday, It Might Be Time, One More Hour

7/10

Tame Impala - "Tame Impala" (2008)

Since we're exactly 1 month out from Tame Impala's long awaited 4th album, The Slow Rush, I thought I'd go back to the only one of the bands releases I haven't covered yet, their 2008 self-titled debut EP. Here the band sounds like a work in progress, figuring out their sound and their influences more blatantly show.

These tracks are more roughly produced than the band's later work, giving the EP a low-fi, garage rock feel. They also veer consistently towards the band's blues and stoner rock side, making the release likely the groups heaviest. However the rougher production means that they never quite pack the same punch that the heavier tracks on Innerspeaker and Lonerism do. The opener, Desire Be Desire Go, demonstrates this. The song is essentially the same as the version that appears on Innerspeaker, except the rougher production makes the EP version feel less kinetic and driven.

Skeleton Tiger and Half Full Glass Of Wine have an undeniable Led Zeppelin influence, with the later literally sounding like the band's best attempt at a Led Zep cover (Complete with Kevin Parker doing a Robert Plant falsetto), but slowed down by a 1/3. The slowing also shifts the pitch down, giving the track this real sludgy stoner rock vibe. Skeleton Tiger initially sounds more Beatles indebted (with Kevin trying to sound like John Lennon as he so often did in the early days of the band), but then breaks down into a bridge that evokes Whole Lotta Love's quiet guitars and rumbling drums but with more effects. 41 Mosquitoes Flying In Formation is full on stoner rock. Kevin's vocals drone on over this heavy, sludgy groove, transforming into an hypnotic "oh-ah, ah-oh, oh-ah, ah-oh" at points in the track.

The intensity peaks at this point, with the last two tracks mellowing out slightly. Slide Through My Fingers lacks the intense groove of 41 Mosquitoes, but retains the mysteriousness with Arabic sounding guitar licks mixed to sound like they're right off in the distance. The Beatles influence once again raises its head on the closing track, Wander. Parts of this song remind me of what I'd imagine Tomorrow Never Knows would sound like if you replaced the sitars on that track with blaring guitars and drums.

Despite it's obvious influences, this EP is a fun and easy listen. It is obviously weaker when compared to the bands first two LPs, but shows a band in growth with some decent songs. I really wish there was a version of some of these tracks with better production, to really show off how immense they could sound. I wouldn't say the EP is a necessity (it's not like the band are ever going to play any of these songs live anymore), but its a really fun listen for fans waiting for LP number 4.

Top Tracks: Skeleton Tiger, Half Full Glass Of Wine, 41 Mosquitoes Flying In Formation, Slide Through My Fingers

7/10

Tame Impala - "InnerSpeaker" (2010)

After Currents, I moved back through Tame Impala's discography to their debut album, InnerSpeaker. This record is in the same wheelhouse as Lonerism, being a semi-throwback styled psychedelic rock album, as opposed to Currents' weird mix of psychedelic pop, art pop and disco. However their are distinct differences between this and what Kevin Parker would go on to create in Lonerism.

The biggest of these is the use of synths. Here they only play a small part, where they are a dominant force on Lonerism. In their place the guitars show up in full force, with plenty of driving bluesy riffs. These accompanied by some thunderous drumming give the tracks a sense of propulsiveness to them, and are more uptempo than the majority of the tracks on the groups following releases. The vocals are also more simple than on Lonerism. There aren't to many effects placed on them and they tend to sit in one place in the mix from track to track. Kevin Parker also sounds even more like John Lennon on this one.

These contribute to these tracks feeling a lot more straightforward and less dynamic than the groups later work. The tracks don't generally have as many parts to them, and don't radically change-up mid-song. I wouldn't say this a bad thing, however. It creates a different experience which helps the album stand on its own. Where Lonerism feels like an adventure when listening, InnerSpeaker feels like a drive through the countryside, with sunlight shining through the trees.

The lyrical content is also more contempt. Where Lonerism was longing and moody, and Currents' was down right self-pitying; here Kevin Parker seems comfortable being himself. The opening track, It Is Not Meant To Be, discusses this girl Kevin seems interested in but she's not interested in the kind of lifestyle he has, so he just shrugs and says 'it's not meant to be'. Solitude Is Bliss is literally a track about how he enjoys being alone.

While the more simple approach here makes some of the tracks feel a little redundant compared to the best on the record, those best moments are just so damn fun. The aforementioned Solitude Is Bliss is light and airy, and Desire Be Desire Go opens with a energetic guitar line with the main hook of the song following it. Jeremy's Storm is an entirely instrumental cut which ebs and flows just like a real storm and The Bold Arrow Of Time is this sluggish, sludgy, Led Zeppelin-esque riff-monster for one moment then a Pink Floyd infused space rock song the next.

This record is a lot of fun. Lonerism is certainly the more ambitious, more unique release of the two, but this one is just as entertaining in a different way. It's a loud, noisy, psyched out record which never lets you take a moment to breath. It just propels you forward from one track to the next.

Top Tracks: Desire Be, Desire Go, Lucidity, Solitude Is Bliss, Jeremy's Storm, The Bold Arrow Of Time, I Don't Really Mind

8/10

Tame Impala - "Lonerism" (2012)

Tame Impala is one of those critically acclaimed artists that I have never really listened to before, and with a new album on the horizon I thought I'd better check them out. Listening to both this and Currents, it was Lonerism which I gravitated to more. It's (slightly) less produced, more spacious sound reminded me more of the little I know of 60's psychedelia (basically studio years Beatles and early Pink Floyd, and that I don't know as well as I'd like).

Across these detailed but spacious tracks, different melodies and moments pop into the forefront and then fade back into the distance, leaving room for another idea to take its place. Kevin Parker's vocals sometimes glide above the tracks, and then without notice plunge deep into the mix buried in effects. I don't know if it is intentional, but his voice is incredibly reminiscent of the likes of John Lennon and Syd Barrett in places, which adds to the throwback aesthetic. The lyrics give off the general vibe of longing and loss, however they're never really the draw of this kind of music, and are here to serve the atmosphere rather than to be read into too deeply.

Be Above It sounds raw and primal with its repeated chanting, and all the opening of Music To Walk Home By for some reason gives me the feeling of diving headfirst into a swimming pool. The bridge on Why Won't They Talk To Me? also always grabs my attention as the track strips back leaving this groovy drum pattern and some very 60's sounding synths. Feels Like We Only Go Backwards catchy as anything despite all the psychedelia and lo-fi buzz on Keep On Lying's synths and guitars slowly mesh together, raising the intensity of the track over time. Elephant stands out from the rest of the tracklist as despite its psychedelic flourishes, it's very much a bluesy stoner-rock song at it's core with its chunky riff and thunderous drums. Unfortunately the last couple of tracks don't really stand out and just fade into the background, which is disappointing considering most of the tracks have something which grabs me and draws me in.

Psychedelia isn't for everyone, but if it is something you can dig, this is a great album to stick on in the background when doing something or just chilling out. The bright, summery atmosphere is perfect for this time of year (when the weather is nice, which isn't always the case).

Top Tracks: Be Above It, Endors Toi, Music To Walk Home By, Why Won't They Talk To Me?, Feels Like We Only Go Backwards, Keep On Lying, Elephant

8/10