TRACK REVIEWS: Tame Impala & Sightless Pit

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"Lost In Yesterday" - Tame Impala


 Kevin Parker’s one of those people who was gifted with so much talent that he writes and records all of the music himself. Like an Australian Dave Grohl, Parker started the project by himself back in 2007, and his psychedelic sound has since found its way into listeners’ heads without finding a way out.  

This is exactly what we expected when they released this new single, “Lost In Yesterday,” coming off of The Slow Rush, which is set to release in February.  Tame Impala has always had a way of making their songs easy to enjoy right from the get go, but to be totally honest, this song doesn’t seem to offer much more than what’s on the surface level. It’s a good song, sure, but the great songwriting isn’t there. 


As the song starts, you’re bopping your head. When you’re getting into the song, you’ll find yourself thinking: gee, maybe we're getting a single that is actually going to induce excitement for the album and not a crisis! But then it just... stays like that. You keep waiting and waiting, enjoying the idle time, but that's all it is - idle time. Does the beat make you wanna dance around your room? Sure. Is the bassline smooth as butter? Not as much as “The Less I Know the Better,” but sure. Does the song demand your attention, requiring you to dive deeper into it?  Not really. Parker has always been a terrific songwriter, and while this song is fun, it doesn’t really carry much weight.


This is a common theme with the other singles from the album - with the exception of “Posthumous Forgiveness." They all deliver an echo of Tame, but something is missing to take them from good to the greatness we know. Perhaps the impatience that's been carried over from these past five Impala-less years has caused the listeners to want more.


Or maybe, Parker being a perfectionist is working against him on this album. It’s easy to feel for him - he’s created three masterful albums (including one of Osmosis Tones' Albums of the Decade), and everyone has been waiting for years for him to top them. It's a lot of pressure to live up to the hype, and he seems scared to underdeliver. Let’s hope we’re wrong, but maybe Parker can't outdo himself this time. At least not with all these nerves in the way. 

But the album is called The Slow Rush. The first single he released is “Patience." All of the cover art is drenched in sand. You don't need to be a detective to see Parker trying to tell us that sometimes things move slowly, and that's okay. Sometimes the biggest peak comes from the slowest high. We’re listening, Kevin. Just please don't stop talking for 5 years again!

- Tommy Delone & Eleni Haberis


The Slow Rush is out February 14th on Modular Recordings


"Kingscorpse" - Sightless Pit


Jesus Christ, this is the collaboration we need. Move over Prophets of Rage, fucking losers. Lingua Ignota, Full of Hell and The Body is an incredibly complimentary mix of artists, as each one respectively takes heavy music to new, experimental extremes. Dylan Walker and Kristin Hayter, in my humble opinion, are some of the greatest vocalists to touch the mic in extreme music. Lee Buford's behind the boards on this one, which means you are going to hear something experimental, surreal and grating with noise, but with an odd sense of pop accessibility.




This shit took me quite a few listens, but this is amazing. The track starts off with a bang, as Hayter creates a heavenly yet animalistic vocal pattern that is layered with a creepy pitched harmony; while repetitive, it's a great vocal loop that never gets old. I love the influence from traditional Christian vocal music on this track. The beat is steady and bobbing, very 90s house-esque. The percussion doesn’t switch up but it doesn’t need to, homeboy is killin' that SSX tricky menu screen drum pattern. Dylan Walker comes in with disgusting, throaty screams. They get distorted and chopped up and add to the energy of this track. He does exactly what is needed.

What is most thrilling is the amount of detail being layered in the background. Deep, droning synths slowly build and suffocate the track. Harsh noise is layered on top perfectly. I love the application of dynamics, from raising the intensity of the synths to sputtering noise progressively throughout the track. Think Ramleh, but from the future. These dynamics eventually swallow Walker's vocals whole, and this track ends with the drum beat trotting away. 

This track rips. It's ugly, animalistic, and mesmerizing. It seems to leap off of the sonic territory explored in last Body and Full of Hell collab, Ascending a Mountain of Heavy Light. We are lucky to live in an era where artists are willing to innovate music to this degree. I’m SO excited for this album. 

- Luke Robinson



Grave of a Dog is out February 21 on Thrill Jockey Records

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