Will Schube wears his plastic raincoat at the Rain Parade.
Rock is in a weird place, with a ton of bands unwilling to rock band. Skittering electronics, layers of reverb, slacker nonchalance, but minimal guitars. LA’s Talk In Tongues, seem intent on bringing back something sorely lacked: heavy psychedelic layers and atmosphere grounded in solid and interesting rock and roll.
If their debut Alone With A Friend can teach aspiring musicians one thing, it’s that music doesn’t need to be overly complex to be good. The foursome takes 60s acid rock and blends it with the late-2000s re-appropriation of it, specifically Yeasayer’s All Hour Cymbals and Revolver-era cover band, Tame Impala. Though rooted in psychedelia’s indelible imprint on rock and roll, the band cherry-picks their influences effortlessly.
On “While Everyone Was Waiting,” they recall The Klaxons, blending post-punk and funk in a concoction both new and familiar. “Still Don’t Seem To Care” buzzed its way through the internet thanks to its heavy drums and Unknown Mortal Orchestra-esque guitar stabs. “She Lives In My House” is all Queens of the Stone Age hard rock, and it’s one of the album’s edgier moments. “Always All The Time” introduces a drum machine allowing for drugged out disco to strut alongside mid-20s nonchalance.
One hurdle they’ve yet to cross is going from influenced to influencer. They don’t yet sound fully formed, but instead take pieces from their favorite stuff and blend it into an easily digestible product. It’s fine because the music is that good. For the most part, Alone With A Friend is a very impressive debut by a band confident in its musicianship, if not its creativity. The best new band in LA, Talk in Tongues succeed by understanding how to convey simple points with extreme precision
