Sun Structures: What This Record Means To Me

Sun Structures is the debut album by British neo-psychedelic band Temples. Their blend of 60s nostalgia with modern studio techniques makes them one of the most promising acts of today. Adding a funkier, bassier flavour to their music than neo-psych peers Tame Impala and Foxygen, Temples provide an upbeat twist on their mystically sonic music.

The album opens with the groovy 'Shelter Song', the opening single, exactly as it was recorded in James Bagshaw (singer, writer, producer)'s bedroom when the band were only two, not four. The well layered boogie sets the scene very quickly somewhere between the haze of the summer of '67 and Bagshaw's dopplegänger, Marc Bolan and T-Rex.

The LP's title track, Sun Structures, takes you on a journey deep into psych. The irregular drum beat and the continuous bass riff leaves you safe to close your eyes, lie back and immerse your entire body, mind and soul into Bagshaw's whispered vocal.

The Golden Throne continues the journey into the mist as Thomas Warmsley's bass pushes the track along into it's distinctive distorted keyboard sound, much like that of an early 70s sci-fi film.

The boogie-woogie Keep In The Dark plunges you right into Bolan. The catchy sing-a-long is an instant hit with it's cocktail of sounds crescendoing in the bridge and chorus. This is where psychedelic rock becomes psychedelic-pop. It must be said that in this sense, pop is not the dirty word that it has become, however, it makes the band a truly likeable entity, casting their stratospheric music to the place it belongs, the stratosphere!

Mesmerise once more casts you into the euphoric world of psych-trip and the catchy melody connects with you immediately. Mesmerise is what Temples are about. Their brand of pop music mixed with pyschedelia ensures a wide audience. There is no aggression or malice in Temples' music, just love, and haze.

Move With The Season is a pure trip. From it's dreamy vocals to the massive final section of strings and Bagshaw's falsetto. The track is almost in slow motion, sit back, relax, enjoy the sensation. This brings the album to Colours to Life. This single is not quite as poppy as Mesmerise or Keep In The Dark but is just as likeable. As Bagshaw breathes his lyrics of love, you begin to realise that this album is something more than great.

Album tracks A Question Isn't Answered, The Guesser and Test of Time provide ten minutes of dream and some very decent music. The three tracks may not be quite as entertaining as others on the record, but are however good enough to be singles for some bands. Temples present us with their awesome use of studio equipment and effects pedals to assert the sonic nature of the LP.

Sand Dance begins with similar bass boogie to the rest of the record, however the bridge breaks down into a slow, wishy-washy dream. Another good track, until the three minute outro. As the band show off their prowess, Adam Smith on the keyboard, James Bagshaw on lead guitar, Samuel Toms' drumming keeping the pace and Thomas Warmsley on bass, the record drifts off into a dream. Like an improvised version of the bride repeated over and over again you are catapulted up into space in the arms of Kettering's premier (and first?) psychedelic heroes.

Fragment's Light finishes the album on a Byrds-esque acoustic guitar. Bagshaw whispers his vocals over the track to conclude, in my opinion, the album of 2014.

Sun Structures is my coming-of-age album. Having taken me through my sixteenth summer, Temples will stay forever with me as the band of my youth. The instrumentation on this record is second to none. We can only hope that Temples' second record is just as good.

Innerspeaker: What This Record Means To Me

Innerspeaker is the debut LP by Australian psychedelic rock outfit Tame Impala. Released in 2010, it combines the studio production techniques of the 21st century with psychedelic influences of the 1960s.

The opening track, It's Not Meant To Be reminisces the hazy, wah rhythm guitar that opens Ogden's Nut Gone Flake, The Small Faces' 1967 hit album. And the sixties references continue through the record. Kevin Parker's whispered, dreamy vocals gasp 'Sitting around, smoking weed,' and the image of a smoky, 1960s bedroom springs to mind immediately.

The lyrics to the opening track are that of admiring a girl and boasting that, 'It is meant to be,' however in reality, the narrator doesn't, 'Have a hope in hell.' It's a situation that many a teenager can relate to, and so can I.

Track 2 is the fuzzy, slightly heavier guitar number, 'Desire Be, Desire Go' which leads us into the equally fuzzy (and trippy!) numbers 'Alter Ego' and 'Lucidity.' We land at Track 5, 'Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind?' In a haze of guitars and synthesisers, Parker's voice breathes the title line along with 'Give me a sign' and not much else. In it's simplicity, the message of confusion by a lover is drilled in harder than by a long, well-thought out piece of poetry. Again, the complexity of love and relationships latches onto the listener, it's what makes this album so, so relatable.

The short and simple piece follows into the wah masterpiece that is 'Solitude Is Bliss'. As Parker croons, 'You will never come close to how I feel,' the song becomes a loner's anthem. The positive vibe that bellows through the whole song makes being alone feel oh so great. The reference to LSD in the lyric, ' There's a party going on in my head, and there's nobody else invited' once again links the band back to their 60s influences.

The instrumental 'Jeremy's Storm' delivers exactly what it promises. Violent dissonance in certain parts of the song really do throw you into the storm. This launches you into 'Expectation', which, I doubt unintentionally, is a track that you begin to expect from this album. It must be made perfectly clear however, that describing it as an album track means it no disrespect. Every song on this album is as good as another, and the standard is incredibly high.

'The Bold Arrow of Time' leaves you somewhere between Jimi Hendrix, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Zero7. The driving riff mixes 'Voodoo Child' and 'Spread Your Love' and Parker's cloudy vocal kicks in again.

The album finishes with the loud and layered 'Runway, Houses, City, Clouds' before 'I Don't Really Mind.'

Every single track on this album can compete with another. The lyrics that owe much to heartbreak and loneliness add meaning to the notoriously nonsense genre of psychedelia. Tame Impala went on to create Lonerism which may well be featured in the future. The debut record put Australia on the 'cool' music map, like an industrially-booming China, where Peter Andre and Kylie Minogue were drawn as Turkmenistan and Andorra.

The Stone Roses: What This Record Means to Me

The 1989 self-titled debut release of Manchester pop-group The Stone Roses will forever be regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time. Ian Brown's dreamy, whispered vocals over John Squire's jangling guitars, backed with Reni's immense drumming ability and Mani's impeccable driving basslines makes the record a classic. Due to managerial problems and a turbulent relationship between members of the band, The Stone Roses never seriously reached the heights of their debut LP ever again, however, the incredible tracks on that album have stood the test of time in Britain's indie scene, and will always continue to do so.

Ian Brown c.1989

The opening track, I Wanna Be Adored, speaks out to any lonely soul, not unlike myself, and is relatable to almost anybody. The fact that the lyrics to the song are contained in three repeated lines, although maybe unintentional, emphasise every word in it's simplicity.

The album continues into the dark yet dreamy world of the late '80s Manchester indie scene, She Bangs The Drums providing a sing-a-long for any fan and Waterfall emulating the jingle-jangle guitars of the 1960s. Waterfall flows into it's reverse, a trippy number called Don't Stop.

Track 8 is where, for me, the album becomes relevant. Made of Stone's harrowing chorus, 'Sometimes I fantasise, when the streets are cold and lonely,' embodies the spirit of the band, four dreamers hoping to leave the dingy streets of 1980s Manchester forever. The song connects with me. Living in suburban Worcestershire, the crime rates may not be as high as 1980s Manchester, and the living conditions are most certainly better. However, there is nothing here, which is where the comparison is drawn. I'd love nothing more than to leave this place. For a sixteen year old, Bromsgrove is a prison, where the offenders revel in gossip, God-awful dance music, and the ambition to move on to a bigger, better life.

This Is The One tells the, slightly beautiful and slightly strange, story of a girl's first orgasm. Through cryptic lyrics and the dark, atmospheric silences, one could never guess, apart from, 'A girl consumed by fire, we all know her desire... This is the one she's waited for.'

The Stone Roses c.1989

The record rounds off with I Am The Resurrection; the embodiment of high self-esteem and blasphemy. Whilst jibing at Christianity and promoting self-empowerment, the whole band reveal themselves as true musical geniuses. Brown's anthemic chorus vocals are just as good as John Squire's stunning lead guitar. And Mani's instantly recognisable,  and beautifully composed bassline is just as good as Reni's backing vocals and expert drum fills. The whole band are as good as one another, and the standard is so incredibly high. When the song breaks down for it's final, four minute jam-session and then comes to a sudden halt, you realise that you've spent forty-five minutes in the company of legends.

The album and the band go hand-in-hand as a message of escape, escaping whatever dull life you lead and dreaming of something better. The record will live on forever as it really is a masterpiece.

Myself, holding the Stone Roses LP