Words by Riley Fitzgerald
Graphic by Tame Impala/Neil Krug

Talking with Australian radio station triple j in 2016 Tame Impala‘s Kevin Parker listed what he believed to be the top three albums of the last 20 years.

First was Air‘s Talkie Walkie.

Parker has namechecked the French electronic duo’s third album as an influence on a number of occasions.

In fact, he’s even gone as far as to suggest the album may be his greatest musical influence.

“There’s something so clean about that album,” he informed the LA Times in 2012, “but it still just f****s with your head.”

“I was starting university when Talkie Walkie came out,” he continued, now in conversation with The Guardian, in 2013.  “It became an emotional soundtrack to what was going on in my life… This album was such an enhancer. I was really inspired by the way they layered melodies and sounds to create a sort of electronic orchestra. That opened my eyes to new studio possibilities, because it was just two guys but they were making a world of sounds. It made me realize that it doesn’t have to sound like a band, it can sound like something totally different.”

The second was The Smashing Pumpkins‘ Siamese Dream.

The Smashing Pumpkins alongside Silverchair are one of Parker’s childhood favorites.

The fact that Smashing Pumpkins bandleader Billy Corgan sang, played bass, laid down guitar lines, produced and mixed Siamese Dream no doubt pointed the way to Parker’s own one-man approach with Tame Impala.

Last but not least was The Strokes‘ This Is It.

The New York rockers are another of Parker’s teenage obsessions.

“I was 16 and I loved The Strokes,” Parker shared with Malayasian publication R.age in 2016. “All I wanted to sound like was The Strokes. So back then, everything I played had to sound like them. If it didn’t, it would feel like a sacrifice.”

Tame Impala’s third album, The Slow Rush will arrive on February 14.