The Lovetones -Meditations

Mon 10th Apr, 2006 in Music Reviews

The first track and lead single for the new album from the Lovetones features the chorus “been looking for my mantra, trying to find an answer”. It’s quest that clearly doesn’t apply to the band’s sound as there is one very clear directive instructing every track – try to sound as much like the Beatles as humanly possible. This is a difficult task, particularly as the Beatles were not exactly human – remember that Paul died when he was 28 and he still manages to record albums, tour and hug Canadian seals.

Led by former Drop City frontman Matthew Tow, this is the second album from the Lovetones and it’s the sounds of Lennon, McCartney, Bowie and Ray Davis that still inspire his songwriting. Though he’s also been influenced by the work of the Beatles in the 90s – Come Home couldn’t exist without borrowing liberally from Free as a Bird. If the retro pop sounds of Kelley Stoltz have taken your fancy then you’ll love Meditations.

The album opens with its two of it’s strongest tracks, the singles Mantra and (I Gotta) Feel, front and centre. Harmony and handclaps are always a fine combination. Track three, Stars, is as close as we’re likely to get to a sequel to Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, all phased vocals and a vaguely Indian mellotron melody. “She’s a mixed up girl, with a mixed up plan”.

Unashamed 60s influenced pop comes no better, but the band struggle to maintain these highs across the album. Unfortunately Was I There in Your Future? with it’s awkward inclusion of ‘big red kangaroos’ sounds more like the William Shatner version Lucy in the Sky than the Beatles. By the time we arrive at track six things are sounding a little stale. It’s fine to play a sprawling directionless mostly instrumental track, with a little trippy backwards guitar, to maybe warm the band up at rehearsal. And maybe they hit the record button by accident. But why did they actually put it on the album? And even worse why, oh why, did they call the song Genius and sing ‘I know everyone’s a genius, just ask them’ as the track ends. What is the point? Mocking the ‘genius’ of other bands by sticking a dull interlude in the middle of their own record? It just makes no sense.

The album suffers greatly from a lack of editing. Clocking in at 57 minutes there are a few tracks that could have been easily been left in the studio without any loss. Who’d miss a sketch of a song like Across the Sea? “Wanted to write a song for my baby, she’s so far away, it’s driving me crazy” Next time the Lovetones are on tour Tow should simply use the phone, rather than hitting record on the four-track in this hotel room. And while the organ powered Wrapped Up in You drawls the album towards close, nodding towards Hank Williams in rhyming ‘good looking’ with ‘see you cooking’, the album ultimately closes with the unsatisfying ‘rocking’ instrumental The Colour and The Cut. Oddly enough both Genius and The Colour and The Cut were written by bass/keyboard player Matthew Sigley and mark the few moments when Tow is not credited as writer.

While Tow and co. took the stage at the Aussie BBQ at the recent South By South West festival, the release of Meditations in Australia is a little belated as it was released in the US late last year. Perhaps Tow’s profile in his homeland has been shaded by the success of other bands with very similar influences such as The Sleepy Jackson or Even. (Tow has collaborated and toured with The Brian Jonestown Massacre, while Even have regularly supported Australian tours by the Dandy Warhols. In attaching themselves to either side of that American musical rivalry maybe there has been some parallel of success in the fortunes of The Lovetones and Even. Maybe…)

Whatever the case, despite some quality singles that would probably have snuck onto a Beatles record, this album is unlikely to change the status of The Lovetones in Australia. Or anywhere else.