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May 20, 2015 Issue #53 - April/May 2015 - Tame Impala By Austin Trunick

This Israeli three-piece impressed psych fans at last year’s SXSW, conjuring humongous, swirling clouds of melodic noise which seemed much too large to have come from such a compact lineup. Their multi-layered, heavily-textured guitar effects won them positive comparisons to Ride and Slowdive as well as contemporaries Wild Nothing; the band’s pop sensibilities are a strong suit. Their first record, The World is Well Lost, was underheard when it was reissued stateside (on cassette) by Burger Records; this one should hopefully get more attention, but it just isn’t as distinctive. Sinking As a Stone’s problem is that it’s too fleeting—the music floats past and leaves listeners little to latch on to. The lack of discernible lyrics—the songs are sung in Hebrew—probably doesn’t help the matter for English listeners, but that doesn’t atone for a scarcity of striking melodies. It all makes for some pretty background music. (www.soundcloud.com/vaadat-charigim)

Author rating: 5.5/10