Tame Impala make NME pollhistory

Tame Impala have topped NME’s long-running Album of the Year poll for their second LP Lonerism.

In doing so the Perth outfit have become the first Australian band in the poll’s 38-year history to top the list, beating out favourites including Frank Ocean, Grimes and the Mercury Prize-winning Alt-J. Not to be outdone, sister band Pond (which features Tame Impala members Nick Allbrook and Jay Watson) also cracked the top 10, coming at #7 with their fourth album Beard Wives Denim, while the Kevin Parker-produced album by French artist Melodys Echo Chamber came in at #16.

This latest accolade caps off a big few weeks for the band that included an appearance on Later… with Jools Holland and their second J Award for Album of the Year.

Earlier this year, we predicted that Tame Impala were on the verge of something huge, following glowing reviews from the likes of Pitchfork and The Guardian, as well as high profile Twitter endorsements from Mark Ronson, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Grizzly Bear, Graham Coxon from Blur and Odd Future’s Tyler The Creator.

Life Is Great Because Of This Tame Impala Album Right Now Fuckkkkkkk

— Tyler, The Creator (@fucktyler) October 16, 2012

Beginning in 1974, the NME Album of the Year list is compiled by the music reviewers and independent journalists working for the magazine and NME.com. Past winners have included Nirvana, Oasis, Beck, Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand and last year’s winner PJ Harvey.

Tame Impala will embark on a tour in December including dates in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth, as well as an appearance at the Meredith Music Festival in Victoria next week. Dates here.

NME’s 50 best albums of 2012

50 Purity Ring – Shrines
49 Flying Lotus – Until The Quiet Comes
48 The 2 Bears – Be Strong
47 John Talabot – fIN
46 Bobby Womack – The Bravest Man In The Universe
45 Lana Del Rey – Born To Die
44 Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid, mAAd City
43 Ratking – Wiki93
42 Paul Weller – Sonik Kicks
41 Ty Segall – Twins
40 Polica – Give You The Ghost
39 Liars – WIXIW
38 TEED – Trouble
37 Enter Shikari – A Flash Flood Of Colour
36 The Vaccines – Come Of Age
35 Metz – Metz
34 Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man
33 Hot Chip – In Our Heads
32 Graham Coxon – A+E
31 G.O.O.D. Music – Cruel Summer
30 Breton – Other People’s Problems
29 Mac DeMarco – 2
28 Spiritualized – Sweet Heart, Sweet Light
27 Jessie Ware – Devotion
26 Spector – Enjoy It While It Lasts
25 Ariel Pink – Mature Themes
24 Merchandise – Children Of Desire
23 Richard Hawley – Standing At The Sky’s Edge
22 Beach House – Bloom
21 Cat Power – Sun
20 Howler – America Give Up
19 Toy – Toy
18 Tribes – Baby
17 Grizzly Bear – Shields
16 Melody’s Echo Chamber – Melody’s Echo Chamber
15 Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
14 The xx – Coexist
13 DIIV – Oshin
12 David Byrne & St. Vincent – Love This Giant
11 Django Django – Django Django
10 Jack White – Blunderbuss
9 Jake Bugg – Jake Bugg
8 The Cribs – In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull
7 Pond – Beard Wives Denim
6 The Maccabees – Given To The Wild
5 Alt-J – An Awesome Wave
4 Crystal Castles – (iii)
3 Frank Ocean – Channel Orange
2 Grimes – Visions
1 Tame Impala – Lonerism