A Week in Records: Tame Impala, C Duncan, Failure...

ALBUM OF THE WEEK: Tame Impala – Currents [Fiction]
For the past few years Tame Impala, aka the one-man studio machine Keven Parker, have been steadily redefining psychedelic rock for a millennial audience. This third outing takes off with Let It Happen, a fanfare of driving drums and kaleidoscopic synths that is reassuringly Tame Impala of old, but as it gains altitude Currents soars to a new level of sophistication. <<read more>>

C Duncan – Architect [Fat Cat]
"I’ll take you everywhere I go … I’ll take you everywhere I know," C Duncan sings on Here To There. By the time we get to this track, on the middle of his debut, he has already taken us far, through dreampop, vast choral harmonies, ethereal rock, and shimmering folk meditations, drawing on influences as disparate as Fleet Foxes and Mozart. <<read more>>

Failure – The Heart Is a Monster [INgrooves/Xtra Mile]
The fourth Failure album that seemed a pipe dream for so long calls in at the same spaceport the LA trio left us marooned on when they split with 1996’s Fantastic Planet, finding a familiar thematic frequency in Segue 4’s digital static. Where others might struggle to emulate old glory, The Heart Is a Monster marks a more graceful transition, leaving the listener in awe of their exceptional combined songwriting chops rather than simply relieved that they can still write the odd riff. <<read more>>

Ratatat – Magnifique [Because]
Magnifique, the fifth album from Brooklyn-based duo Ratatat, discontinues the naming convention set up with LP3 and LP4. But it could comfortably be called LP5, such is the rigidity of an established formula: old-school prog-guitar wolf in electro-funk's clothing. Save for the odd outlier – the sedate track Drift is the band’s first ballad, of sorts – this is essentially another collection of instrumentals in that now inveterate mould. <<read more>>

Teen Men – Teen Men [Bar None]
Teen Men should be easy to write off as mere zeitgeist imitators: spikey muted guitar, afropop percussion, a lush production complete with what sounds like harpsichord flourishes... Yes, Vampire Weekend are all over this record but if anything the likeness speaks to the Delaware band’s quality. Singer Nick Krill is a comparable match for Weekend’s Koenig, his words flowing with a sumptuous ease and efficiency. His lyrics, though simple, can be plenty pointed – why not stay a teen man when the alternative is “a five day march forever repeating”? <<read more>>