The Lovetones

The Lovetones – ‘Journeyman’

Matthew J Tow has had a fairly varied and impressive career, consisting of time in acclaimed 90s Sydney band Drop City, a solo album released on ultra-indie US label Sub Pop and even a tenure with The Brian Jonestown Massacre. His main preoccupation lately, though, has been The Lovetones – a psychedelic rock band with a penchant for jangly-pop, strong melodies, and dreamy vocals.

Their fourth album, Dimensions finds the band injecting a more obvious Byrds-ian/Kinks-esque songwriting flavour to their now-perfected lush, psychedlic leanings. Journeyman exhibits these strenghs in composition and aesthetic. The impressive production (courtesy of Belles Will Ring‘s Liam Judson) is broad and full, capturing the reverbed chime of the guitars that has characterised their sound. Although the vocals are never presented as the drawcard of this sound, the song is certainly steered by the melodic vocal line of the verse and the floating harmonies of the chorus before the string section takes over for the tail end.

The Lovetones also have a couple of live sets available on MoshCam for anyone interested in checking out their impressive performances and hearing some of their intimidating back-catalogue.

www.myspace.com/thelovetones