Did you like the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine? Do you like Tame Impala? If you answered yes to both these questions then you will love WA act Mink Mussel Creek.
Mink Mussel Creek features Tame Impala’s visionary vocalist/guitarist Kevin Parker and Pond’s Nick Allbrook. This was ‘their’ band formed back in 2007 while Tame Impala was Parker’s band and Pond was Allbrook’s band – get it?
Anyway, Mink Mussel Creek recorded Mink Mussel Manticore back in 2007 but the recording were never mixed or produced. But then in 2011 after Parker and Allbrook had made a billion dollars (estimated amount) from Tame Impala, they re-recorded ‘Manticore and now finally in 2014 it has been released.
It’s fucking loose to say the least. If you’re a big fan of the two aforementioned modern day psych-juggernauts then you will love Mink Mussel Creek.
Opening track They Dated Steadily is a veritable wet dream for lovers of fuzzed out guitars, vocals, drums, lyrics, production… everything is fuzzy freaking wuzzy. The hat tips to Hendrix guitar lines and, vocally, Neil Young is totally enjoyable. Coming in at an extravagant 13 minutes and 31 seconds, the song wends and weaves through psychedelic rock like a holiday cruise of the era on acid (honestly, I am amazed I got six paragraphs in before mentioning a mind-expanding substance).
The places travelled both sonically and lyrically are vast placing this release probably closer to Pink Floyd’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (that album title alone can bring on flashbacks).
However, the song Make Out Party Girls is the closest thing resembling either Tame Impala or Pond nowadays, meaning that it is a great track. The album was recorded live in Fremantle’s Norfolk Basement, and while recording style gives the album a delicious tangibility, it also makes the recordings a bit gluggy which can get tiring on the ears as one attempts to decipher the instruments’ rhythms and melody.
BY DENVER MAXX
Best Track: They Dated Steadily
If You Like These, You’ll Love This: Lonerism TAME IMPALA, Hobo Rocket POND, What Christ Would Do THE GROWL
In A Word: Retrofit
