The Lovetones Spread Across Dimensions

The Lovetones are an Australian band that's been slowly buidling it's reputation over the last seven years. Back in 2002 their debut album, Be What You Want was hailed by critics around the world as featuring songs that were worthy of Ray Davies, Roger McGuinn, Lennon and McCartney. But as fate would have it, the bands leader, J Tow, left Australia to join the brilliant train wreck that is the Brian Jonestown Massacre in 2003. Returning to his own band in 2004, The Lovetones released the Stars EP and then Meditations in 2005 and Axiom in 2006 all to acclaim. These releases furthered the development of the band and set them up for their latest album, Dimensions.

A psychedelic pop experience, Dimensions has the sound and feel of a record recorded sometime between the years of 1965-1968. I suppose you could think of The Lovetones almost as if Ride met the Dandy Warhols and then ran into the Ray, Paul, and John on Carnaby Street. It's a jangly affair that rises up out of the mists of history to sound like reflection of the sum of its influences. In fact, at certain times during, Dimensions, you would swear that the Beatles or Kinks sat in on the sessions. One listen to a couple of songs like, "Journeyman," and "Two of a Kind," and you’ll be convinced that this is a long lost record from a bygone era.

Dimensions is quite a good record that harks back to pop's glorious past while attempting to carry the legendary influences that shape it in to the future. The Lovetones clearly have been around long enough to understand their way around a classic pop song and they do a pretty good job of recreating them time after time. Whether it is lush, orchestral ballads, spacey psychedelic pop, or Merseybeat-ish jangle, J. Tow and The Lovetones have the chemistry, adoration for classicism, and talent that allows them to write great songs that consistently hit their mark.

In a nutshell, Dimensions is one of the best albums from the 60's that never was. It's an incredible record with loads of trippy mind-bending songs that intermingle with simple pop tunes as if it were. If you love classic pop songs and/or the Beatles, Kinks, The Byrds, Ride or the Dandy's then you should probably find this record somewhere and enjoy Dimensions' retro-cool.