New album: Lonerism
Artist: Tame Impala
Label: Modular
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Don’t let the “Lonerism” album title mislead you, as this is not a collection of po-faced whine-a-thons. The title probably has more to do with the fact that most of this and all Tame Impala products are recorded by group leader Kevin Parker at his home.
Without the restraints of studio time hanging overhead, Parker is able to pull his songs into different sonic territories, while producer David Fridmann molds the sprawling goodness into something even music journalists can comprehend.
A thick, compression-heavy drum sound is featured throughout “Lonerism,” causing even the more aggressive tunes (such as the
To the lazy ear, “Lonerism” seems stuck in 1967, but if you dig a little deeper, the influence of modern day masters Beck and Dungen is apparent. Even the sweet-as-sugar melody of “She Just Won’t Believe Me” is accompanied by a spooky sci-fi movie keyboard straight out of the Flaming Lips playbook.
With “Lonerism,” Parker has managed to avoid the sophomore album jinx by refusing to simply churn out a photocopy of the group’s well received debut. The taste of success seems to have loosened up Parker as a writer and as a sonic experimenter, and it’ll be interesting to see how the touring version of Tame Impala pulls off the multiple sonic textures achieved here.
No matter how or what they try to accomplish live, fans of the dying art of rock music should catch these guys while they’re still around.
Classic album: Best Of
Artist: The Ronettes
Label: Abkco
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
The Ronettes’ existence on the national stage was brief but formidable.
Lead vocalist Ronnie Bennett (later Ronnie Spector) along with her sister Estelle and cousin, Nedra Talley, were scooped up by genius producer/eventual lunatic Phil Spector.
Spector’s much heralded “Wall of Sound” productions were mono recordings crafted to sound like pop symphonies that could make even the cheapest AM radio sound as if it had otherworldly powers.
When The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby” blasted through a few million radios in 1963, it became an instant classic. Ronnie Bennett’s distinctive vocals aside, The Ronettes’ image wasn’t as gentle and pure as most other girl groups.
A hint of the ladies’
Topping “Be My Baby” would prove to be an impossible task, but many timeless pop songs followed in its wake. “The Best Part of Breaking Up,” “Walking in the Rain” and “Why Don’t They Let Us Fall in Love” followed in quick succession.
All of these songs furthered the original concept of a tough group of pretty girls who could sing like angels or punch you out if you got fresh with them. Between Spector’s masterful arrangement/studio prowess and The Ronettes’ soulful voices, it would have been tough to get anything less than stellar from this union.
A few nearly-syrupy ballads — “So Young” and “When I Saw You” — don’t really fit in with the tougher, anthemic material. That being said, Ronnie Bennett’s soaring lead vocal on “So Young” may be the strongest of her recorded career. At least these songs are placed directly in the middle of the album, and it never hurts to show a little diversity.
Ronnie Bennett went on to marry Phil Spector, and years of lunacy ensued. Thankfully, Ronnie eventually got out of the marriage and was pulled back into the public eye in 1986 when she reprised her “Be My Baby” vocal for Eddie Money’s “Take Me Home Tonight.”
Creating such beautiful music against a backdrop of weirdness gives some of these performances the feel of a David Lynch movie, but like Lynch’s best work, these songs are timeless.
No empty nostalgia here; just some tough, good lookin’ broads who sang like no one else.
Jon Dawson’s album reviews appear every Thursday in The Free Press. Contact Jon at 252-559-1092 or jon.dawson@kinston.com. Purchase Jon’s book, ‘Making Gravy in Public,’ at The Free Press office or jondawson.com.