TAME IMPALA
ANTARES MIRA SUN
(MODULAR) A

The debut EP from Perth newcomers Tame Impala (who, if you take a look at some of their publicity shots, you’ll see aren’t exactly the ugliest of men in rock now are they?) is one of those rare delights when it comes to songs that are founded on a musical throwback to another era. These kind of throwbacks in popular music have, in the past, brought on a swagger of hit and miss, and — quite unfortunately — it’s usually a miss. Antares Mira Sun and Tame Impala are defiant in their actions against being a miss though; this hits all the right spots. A truly majestic collection of songs that buzz into your psyche, have their way with your charkas and leave after a very satisfying 20 minutes of sonic brilliance.

“Desire Be Desire Go” wraps itself in a swirl of intricate sounds and incomprehensible lyrics, whilst “Skeleton Tiger” – purposely – is the musical equivalent of a delicate garment being sent through the washing machine on the heavy duty cycle. It’s got this charmingly aged sensibility about it, this worn, lo-fi approach to its presentation that makes you believe the song is much (much) older than it actually is. The Cream-esque “Half Full Glass Of Wine” erupts with a deceiving and rip-snortingly-fast introduction, before settling itself back into the general stoner-rock feel of the EP. The rollicking riffs on offer are exhilarating, the verses; schizophrenic and exciting. There’s one hell of an all-out drum-fest in the last 40 seconds as well which is a pretty inspiring listen.

It’s the final two tracks though which really make Antares Mira Sun the audible delight that it is. “Forty One Mosquitoes Flying In Formation” and “Slide Through My Fingers” offer up sensational lyricism with some clever production tricks and killer riffs, particularly the latter which ventures off into similar psychedelic states found throughout Jefferson Airplane’s epic “White Rabbit.” All in all, this is seriously immense stuff; a cosmic journey into the past, with generous dashings of the present to preserve the bands originality.

Listen to more Tame Impala here. My interview with Kevin from the three-piece is coming this week. According to ModBlogular, there is a Tame Impala EPK “coming soon”, so I’ll keep you posted when that flies through the ol’ inbox as well.