Why Temples?

Putting the debut album from Britain's Temples is like putting on a record released straight out of 1968. "Shelter Song" opens with the chiming guitars at home on any Byrds record. But it is Byrds meets psychedelic-era Pink Floyd or Cream with the trippy rhythms, especially on the title track. "The Golden Throne" has a killer chorus as the drums take over with nice keyboard flourishes before giving way to a sinister-ish guitar line. "Mesmerize" gallops more than the other tracks with a Rick Wakeman-like keyboard line coupling the chorus back to verse.

Those ever present rhythms make for a very strong foundation; the bass and the drums do not quite thunder but they are definitely not weak. They anchor the songs nicely. Bolstered by reverb-y vocals and keyboards and ringing chords. The production is very classic sounding, very heavy in a way...maybe not heavy but thick. The sound, especially the drums, have bottom.

I read about the record first in Pitchfork. They were predictably blah about it. I reckon when you listen to as many records as they do it is hard to get jazzed over something. The music here is not especially unique. I agree in a way when they say Temples are Tame Impala without the modern flourishes. I think the fat drum sound steps it away from a total psychedelic tribute. It builds upon that scene, if not grandly at least functionally.

Reading about them, it seems they have already opened for the likes of Suede and even The Rolling Stones. Noel Gallagher has sung their praises. It makes me wonder where this comes from; how notice like this happens, especially for a band so young Is it great? I wouldn't say it is GREAT, but it is enjoyable if you like this kind of music: British bands wearing their influences on their sleeve and doing a great job at it. What makes it stand-out, though? Why do Temples get the notice but others don't. I can't imagine there are not others bands like this doing similar things. What sets apart a band like this from a band like mine (other than talent and inspiration and about 20 years and plenty of time is a big studio)? Maybe those things are really all it takes. What it is, the music business is about 10% talent and 90% luck. Lots of bands are talented and write great songs, but they simply never break through where Noel Gallagher gets to say nice things about you. Lucky for my band we aren't leaning on our talents for our livelihood. Otherwise we'd starve. At least we admit it.

Here's the title track from this fine new record.

Slip the surly bonds with Earthless

From The Ages by Earthless is another of those records that I became acquainted with too late for it to have made my top ten list. That's a shame because it deserves a place. Earthless are an instrumental power-trio from San Diego who occupy that middle ground between heavy rock and metal.  They have a very classic vibe. The guitar playing reminds me a lot of Jimi Hendrix and Robin Trower at his noisiest. Not so much in terms of skill, though guitarist Isaiah Mitchell is plenty good, but more in the psychedelic scene their music paints. The rhythm section of Marco Rubalcala and Mike Eginton provide the lumbering foundation for the guitar's histrionics. The occasional keyboard joins the ensemble and adds a new element to the music's mysteries.

It's another double LP (what's with these bands and their double LPs?). Four songs. One on side 1, two on side 2, and the title track spread over both sides of the second disc. This is a record that is comfortable both as the trippy background to whatever you're up to, but also, and far more enjoyable, as something you let wash over you. Doing that, however, is a real commitment, an investment of time that not many bands these days require from their audience. It's enjoyable because even though the songs are long, they still move. There is shape and nuance around the central theme. It lurks and spins and coils in of itself. It starts and stalls and gallops and rumbles into a conclusion. Repeated listens bring forth some new sonic experience. For a discerning rock fan, it's a treasure of musicality.

I can't leave without saying how awesome the album art is. One of the many reasons I love vinyl over CDs is the jackets. In a CD booklet, there isn't much space to appreciate the cover. With vinyl you can appreciate the effort made over the entire package. Opening the front gatefold you see lumbering elephants, emblematic of the music, with what appear to be jewels within their foreheads, crossing a stone bridge from an otherworldly door to meet, naturally, not only an enormous bird dominating the front cover but a shaman-esque humanoid whose head is eyeball. Of course he is dressed in robs and holds a scepter because...because that's what dudes with an eyeball for a head carry.

Here's album opener "Violence of the Red Sea."

Favorite Records of 2013 - Number 6

The words Elephant Stone immediately call to mind The Stone Roses, that hard luck British band that spawned a million mop-headed imitators. Canada's Elephant Stone sounds like they owe thanks to The Stone Roses but they do not imitate that band at all. They are excellent at creating a sound all their own. Twelve-strings, keyboards, sitars, grooves. It works.

There are great grooves at work here. "Heavy Moon" has this slinky rhythm that gets the head bobbing. "Setting Sun" and "Masters of War" have that great classic sounding twelve-string guitar work. "Hold Onto Your Soul" is a total Teenage Fanclub homage. That's not a bad thing because the Fannies are an awesome band themselves. The sitar gets broken out half-way through the record. I am listening to the record as I write this and I couple pretty much just name each sopng and tell you how great it is. "Looking Thru Baby Blue" has a hyper-Pink Floyd kind of feel, especially in the organ line.

I guess this gets lumped into the psychedelic, trippy category. But it is not weird psychedelic. It is much more like a kaleidoscope. Most psychedelic music mellows you out; this will brighten you up.

Here's the most groovy cut..."Heavy Moon."

Up next...the most progressive of this year's favorites, from one of the artists I most admire.

Favorite Albums of 2012 - Number 9

I'd like to visit Perth Australia one day. I was marveling at a map of Australia the other day. I like to go online and follow along with roads that are winding through the middle of nowhere. Perth is on the far western side of Australia and seems to be a real oasis in the middle of nowhere. One of the cool things about Google Maps is the street view, which was even working along a highway in bum-frak nowhere. It was cool to see the emptiness, the expanses, the small little hick Australia towns. It was kind of amazing and over-whelming in a way. I found myself oddly nervous looking at these pictures, like I was an invader.

Tame Impala - Lonerism

Perth is the home of Kevin Parker, who is the mastermind behind Tame Impala. It is strange though maybe it shouldn't be that a place like Perth gives birth to a band like Tame Impala. Maybe music like this has to come from a place that seems so isolated.

Tame Impala are kind of psychedelic, spacey rock. They remind me of an old school Pink Floyd, like Saucerful of Secrets Pink Floyd, but better and more sure of themselves. Lonerism is their second full record, the first being InnerSpeaker, and I think it is almost as good. That is not a bad thing at all. To me the first record was such a strange sounding thing, and Lonerism is expanding on that. It is inventive, always interesting, and weird in lots of places. It's very sonic, lots of stuff going on in it, but not so much it detracts from the experience. It is a great record for headphones, for dark listening, for drifting away in a space capsule.

Looking at my list, it really shows the strength of this year's crop of records that one this good is number 9 (number 9....number 9....number 9....number 9). Maybe a year from now I could find myself wondering how it was ranked so low.

Here's "Apocalypse Dreams," a perfect example from this great great great record. I love this band.

Next up...even the French can make a great record!!