I have done a few “Finding The Lemon In…” articles for the older classic acts Elvis Costello and Green Day, finding the influence of this broad British music style in unexpected artists. From ’60s acts like The Beatles and The Kinks through to Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, Sam Fender etc – I’ve given it the uniform name of “lemon music.”

I thought I would apply this to some more contemporary acts who are finding a lot of success in the charts etc. Today, it’s Tame Impala.

A classic joke, Tame Impala is often mistakenly called a band. In reality, it is the solo project of Australian mastermind Kevin Parker. He does everything – the songwriting, instruments, production. He has gone through many different styles over the years. He started off with very Beatles and Led Zeppelin-inspired psychedelic rock, before embracing other styles like synth-pop and more contemporary sounds in his later material. His album from last year, which was a dance record, spawned “Dracula” – one of the biggest viral hits of the year.

You can’t really deny the spellbinding soundscapes of his tracks like “Let It Happen” in the last decade, and the live shows look otherworldly. However, I thought I’d start with a sound I wish he’d return to, the rock n roll of his first two albums, specifically Lonerism, which I will look at today.

As I said, his early work has a heavy Beatles vibe. This is seen all over Lonerism. The McCartney-esque basslines on his famous Hofner bass, use of the Rickenbacker guitar like George Harrison, the Ringo style drumbeats and fills (the production makes you feel like you’re in the room with Ringo in 1966). Strangely, I think Parker sounds eerily like John Lennon – you won’t unhear it. He even looks quite like the man!

Even though the album is very Beatles, it still sounds modern. The heavy use of fuzz-guitar and effects like reverb and flanger push the music into neo-psychedelia and dream pop territory. The music frequently circles around the speakers and headphones, creating a dreamlike feel. There are also crunching Zeppelin style riffs as I said, found on “Mind Mischief,” along with the heavy glam-rock stomp of hit “Elephant.”

I would fade out “Keep On Lying” from the 5-minute mark, and fade in and out a few times during the 3:25-5:00 jam section of the penultimate track (long title). I also do think the psychedelic guitar outro of the final track is too long-winded aswell! Just my taste – not a fan of lengthy jam sections. The psychedelic instrumental passages on tracks like “Apocalypse Dreams” are absolutely transcendental through.

Overall, I do think Parker is an insanely talented musician, who has been very influential to the last decade of music, frequently producing massive hip-hop names etc. However, I do wish he would return to the more rocky psychedelic style of this early material – the more “lemon” style sound! See you next time.