Tame Impala

Innerspeaker

Nothing ever clashes; the varied elements of these songs don’t compete but rather harmonize, working together to emanate an effortless, dreamlike vibe, a “chill” record if ever there was one.

Innerspeaker demonstrates a subtle yet encompassing sense of control, never obstructing the grander motifs while still offering a variety of odd details that guide you back to the album's hooks.

Tame Impala succeeded in arriving to the world with a fully-fledged sound and a concise and enjoyable debut album. Innerspeaker is a record full of warm sounds and it rarely gets boring.

Innerspeaker coasts so beautifully on its blissful, billowing waves of sound that readily discernible hooks almost seem like gratuitous distractions.

‘Innerspeaker’ is a brilliantly confident body of work – one that captures the spirit of the complex, ranging, pelvic workouts of the their targets, if lacking in out-and-out highs.

Tame Impala struggle with originality ... but they've concocted such a dreamily enjoyable debut that complaining about their fidelity seems pointless. 

The album's production is authentically fuzzy in a kind of multi-tracked, tape on loop kind of way; and on tracks such as 'Solitude Is Bliss' and 'Desire Be Desire Go' they show a strong sense of melody despite all the distortion and dissonance.

Innerspeaker won't rewrite the history books or reinvent the wheel, but at the same time it serves its purpose as a shining example of the fact that having a nostalgic outlook needn't necessarily be deemed a negative course of action.

The songs that do work rock pretty hard. Innerspeaker is the type of album that might be a little hard to admit liking – it’s self-serious, self-righteous, overlong, and occasionally infuriating.

There’s little sense that Innerspeaker could’ve been etched out in the 21st century. Fuzz and distortion colour the whole record, preserving the rough and ready garage tone of that self-titled EP.

There are just enough standout moments to lead Innerspeaker out of dullness and predictability.

Tame Impala brings back the sounds of 60s psych like it's nobody's business, but I can't help but feel like the band is more of an exercise in nostalgia than anything else.

While the musicianship is excellent, there isn’t nearly enough to keep ‘Innerspeaker’ from plodding along, with plenty of good ideas, but lacking the execution to rise above very colourful mediocrity.