The best song this week is "Alter Ego" by Tame Impala

The shuffle function is the source of ~90% of my song obsessions. With a 160 gig iPod 98% filled, there are a lot of songs to choose from, and most of the time I just let the iPod play DJ. It did a great job on the way down to Champaign on Friday. We started off listening to Brian Posehn’s “Nerd Rage” but by the time we got out of Chicago, it was iPod song shuffle, full-steam ahead. The highlight was Tame Impala followed by !!! right around Kankakee/Momence (we’ll never forget....our Kankakee Momence).

I’d gotten that Tame Impala record (“Innerspeaker”) on a recommendation from Shiraz, but it hadn’t really ever gotten me. I gave it one headphone listen while wandering around the city, but nothing grabbed my attention. It just sort of hazed over me and my mind wouldn’t focus on the tunes. I think it’s time to revisit it, because “Alter Ego” is a true banger. Maybe it’s just too big for a headphones listen because it works so much better blasting from car speakers.

When the distorted drums kick in with a beat that reminds me of an amped up Dismemberment Plan, and the woozy keyboards swirl over bouncy basslines straight outta 1960s Detroit, my ears perk up and my head starts bobbing. There’s so much going on, it’s hard to tell what’s a heavily effected guitar, what’s a keyboard, what’s random soundwaves bouncing through reverb tanks. Then the vocal hook falls into place around 1:53, shooting out of the gauzy haze with an unexpected ‘60s British invasion vibe -- he’s got a bit of Monkees in his vocal chords, and I’m OK with that.

But it’s the drums that caught my attention -- the overdriven roomy sound is a perfect push under all the echo floating around. “Alright, cool, we’re walking barefoot in a stream, this is nice, let’s play some bass and make some keyboard squiggles and how about some drums, bud? Yeahhh, that’s the stuff. Smooth.” These Aussies got soul, man. The best song this week is “Alter Ego” by Tame Impala.