Tame Impala

As I stood in the crowd with the rest of the Shaky Knees festival folk, waiting for Tame Impala to hit the stage, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had heard of them before, I had never listened to them, but since it was the only show happening, it was the last show of the festival, and the person I was with highly suggested them, I stood there anxiously waiting for the Aussies to take the stage. And they were awesome! I won't say they were mind blowing, because I honestly didn't know what I was watching. I mean, it was incredible, but it was the first time I had heard most of the songs, so I couldn't fully appreciate what I was hearing.
How I wish I could go back and re-live that show now.
About a month or two ago, I finally bought their first two albums. Currents, Kevin Parker's third installment as Tame Impala was just about to come out at this point and I kept hearing and reading nothing but excited anticipation about it.
As I put in the first album, called Innerspeaker, and the song, "It Is Not Meant To Be" came rushing at me, I knew this band was going to be important to me. And I didn't take that album out of my CD player for the next month. Literally. I think I only took it out because Currents finally came out. That was about a month ago now, and I just now took it out because the new Maccabees came out. Priorities.
I was never one for classic rock, always sort of associating it with the 80's music they play on the radio station. I failed to remember that classic rock was from the 60's and 70's too, and the sounds of bands like Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd, I'm actually pretty fond of. Innerspeaker has a new wave Led Zepplin stadium sound that you have to turn up loud. The first time I heard of them, they were described to me as psychadelic rock, and that is the only way I would phrase the sound of their first two albums as well.
With many songs sounding like they're from another era, there are also songs that just rock. A few come off very Black Keys-esque, while others surrender more of a slow jam or groove that builds and fades throughout the songs. A few even remind me of late Beatles. And the most amazing part of listening to it, is knowing that Kevin Parker is playing everything that you're hearing. He produces his own albums too, but tours with a full band who make sure to sound even better than the album does.
After being obsessed with Innerspeaker and Currents, I never really got a chance to get into the second album, Lonerism. And although it's still a gem of an album, it's just not quite as memorable as the first or third. However, the songs "Elephant" and "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards," from that album, were probably the most famous songs before the latest album came out and "Let It Happen" came into our lives.
So let me talk about Currents. I'm not gonna lie, after it got all of the hype it got from literally everyone, upon my first listen, I honestly wasn't that impressed. "Let It Happen" was good, it had a very strange movement in the middle where it sounds like a record getting stuck, that I wasn't too fond of at first, and the album was darker and much more R&B, and I was disappointed. However, I didn't give up on it. I can get funky fresh, and that's just what the album turned out to be. And once I accepted that this album was in fact, not Innerspeaker, (and why the heck would I want it to be??), boom, obsessed again.  "Let It Happen," the disco driven single and first track is 8 minutes long, but you never want it to end. And the rest of the album follows suit. The fourth track, "Yes, I'm Changing," never fails to make me tear up (for reasons, all of the reasons), and the next track, "Eventually" starts out with such a bang, I always get music video face to it as well.
My new favorite track at the moment is the funky, "The Less I Know The Better." If there is a song that you should go listen to right now, it's that one. Just try not to dance to that bass line. It makes my life.
They are the band I tell everyone about, and I wish I could share my love for them with the person who introduced me to them, and made me see them at Shaky Knees, but that's neither here nor there. If there is a band you should check out this week, check out Tame Impala. You will not regret it.

Songs that are groovy baby, yeah:

It Is Not Meant To Be
Desire Be, Desire Go


Solitude Is Bliss
Feels Like We Only Go Backwards
Elephant
Let It Happen
Yes I'm Changing
Eventually
The Less I Know The Better
'Cause I'm A Man

"But baby, now there's nothing left that I can do, so don't be blue, there is another future waiting there for you."