Methyl Ethel - Oh Inhuman Spectacle

The Guardian 60

(4AD)

All the hallmarks of a cosmic psychedelic eccentric are stamped on the surface of Jake Webb’s career: hailing from Tame Impala’s birthplace, Perth, the former bedroom recorder possesses the knackered aesthetic of a 70s rock star, his lyrics like curious muddle-headed meanderings and his music singed with a sonic quality that alludes to acid-casualty excess. However, the songs on Oh Inhuman Spectacle, his trio’s debut album, keep one foot rooted in reality – perhaps to its detriment. Its opening handful of tracks are robust – the doomish disco of Idée Fixe, the crepuscular melancholy of Shadowboxing, the Johnny Marr guitars that inhabit Rogues – but soon the record wears out. Although it assimilates the past decade of alt-pop (Animal Collective, Connan Mockasin, Ariel Pink) there’s a wiry quality to Webb’s voice which recalls Turin Brakes’ Olly Knights. Much of the music here is less unearthly obscurity and more relatively straightforward indie, dressed up in a rainbow poncho.