THE LOVETONES lost

Fresh from the pages of this week's Brag, here is my latest CD review...

It’s impossible to write about Sydney’s Lovetones without mentioning the 1960s or the Brian Jonestown Massacre (BJM), so let’s get that bit over with. Yes, they are heavily influenced by Swinging Sixties psychedelia and yes, their main songwriter Matthew J Tow is a former bandmate of Anton Newcombe. But there’s so much more to The Lovetones than this.

On Lost, the Aussie fourpiece have gently steered themselves in some new directions. ‘This Great Romance’ is a wide-eyed love song, gilded with pretty little melodica and xylophone flourishes. The folky ‘Coming Home’ is even sweeter still, infused with harpsichord and a mesmerising duet between Tow and guest vocalist Miranda Lee Richards (herself a veteran of the BJM circus). 

You could almost be forgiven for thinking that, five albums into their career, The Lovetones have suddenly discovered a fresh innocence. But that would be to ignore the heroic hedonism elsewhere on the record. ‘Come Dance With Me’ is a woozy waltz, describing a near-hallucinogenic encounter with a mysterious woman. ‘City Meets The Stars’ is mind-bendingly awesome, boasting a Rickenbacker guitar soaked in luscious organ. And final track ‘Earth’s Great Sleep’ is a kaleidoscopic voyage of self-discovery, swept along by a slow, hypnotic rhythm section.

Forget their influences. Forget their infamous friends. The Lovetones have just delivered their fourth consecutive album of consistently outstanding music. And that’s all that matters.

By Andy McLean. Copyright held by author.

First published in The Brag, Sydney, 2010.

Lost is available through Undercover Music