Picture yourself on a... beach in Australia, with only the night, the weed and the music separating you from tomorrow's comedown.
Such is the place where we find Perth's Tame Impala, sad-eyed psycho-nauts led by Kevin Parker, whose mission seems to be to remind us that the Beatles were more interesting than Oasis may have noticed. If the surprise chart success of Parker's latest album, Lonerism, is any indication, it's a mission many are happy to join him on, and with good reason.
Tame Impala flirt with a kind of retro-trippy pastiche, in which flanged guitars and dazed vocal effects mimic the experience of stumbling on some 1960s happening in full flow.
But it's lush pastiche, made so by Parker's gorgeous songwriting and depths of feeling: Lonerism isn't a hollow genre xerox, it's the timeless sound of a band for whom whatever gets you through the night is – more often than not – all right.
Brixton Academy, London SW9, Tue; Ritz, Manchester, Thur; Leadmill, Sheffield, Fri (all tickets 0844 811 0051; gigsandtours.com)
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