Attracted to the band by word of mouth and the silly name, I downloaded this album (possibly not legally) and enjoyed it, so picked it up cheap when I saw it in a charity shop. The ‘band’ is the brainchild of Australian, Kevin Parker, a man who probably spent too much of his youth playing with electronics and listening to 1960s psychedelia.
And from the start, it’s got that psych feeling, fuzz guitar solos, fluid bass, spacey vocals, almost staccato drums, and that slightly underproduced feeling. Perhaps Parker’s high pitched vocals can grate after a while, but there’s too much else going on to let that distract. Early on, Apocalypse Dreams stands out as a lovely song, as does Why Won’t They Talk To Me, and the glorious Feels Like We Only Go Back.
Having established a sound, Parker doesn’t seem to want to deviate too far from that template, but all the time the songs are strong, that sound works, and halfway through I’m enjoying this more than I expected. Elephant is a fine rock song, with a powerful bass line. But the album seems to fade after that, ending with Sun’s Coming Up, a dreary piano ballad, drifting into a long distorted guitar solo.
3* - a really enjoyable listen, with some great songs, and overall a feel good vibe
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