www.losingtoday.com/features.php?review_id=728&band_alpha=t

BEAT MAGAZINE [MELBOURNE]

The Lovetones' last gig in Melbourne in May this year was like watching a
run-away train hurtling down a steep gradient. Technical glitches,
personality dramas, artistic frustration - it had it all. At one stage
Matthew Tow had gestured as if he was going to evoke memories of Pete
Townshend and destroy his malfunctioning guitar only to relent when the calm
voice of sanity (and financial reality) stepped in. Like the run-away train,
there was the perverse interest in watching to see if it would actually
crash. In the end it stumbled into the station, bruised by the experience
but all the stronger for it. The strange thing is that I reckon that gig was
one of my favourite of the year, not the least reason was for which was the
simple psych-pop brilliance (technical glitches notwithstanding) of The
Lovetones' music (the other was the vague Anton Newcombe vibe of the night).

Early in tonight's proceedings Matthew Tow announced that this gig was the
band's 'make-up' show, a chance to demonstrate to the band's fans that the
train had been repaired and was running as smoothly as ever. And smooth it
was. After the distinctly unedifying indie-pop of the Treetops, The
Lovetones glistened with the sparkle known only to purveyors of the finest
psychedelic pop. Songs such as (I Gotta) Feel give pop an impenetrable
veneer of credibility so frequently ignored. And if you ever wanted to
understand why Timothy O'Leary was so committed to tuning in and dropping
out just close your eyes and release yourself to the mind numbing
psychedelic journey of Pictures. This was a band that went beyond the sum of
its (very talented) constituent parts and dragged a modest crowd inside its
dream. This was psychedelic exploration in its most practised from -
exploring the limits, then returning to the most fundamental three-chord
essence of rock 'n' roll.

After Tow responded politely to inebriated taunts from the crowd for Cold
Chisel, Richard Clapton and You Am I tribute pieces, the band delved into
the past to pull out a mesmerising version of Drop City's Apple Tree
(culminating with Matt Sigley showing his keyboard what-for). A few more
songs were played in lieu of a formal encore and the show was over. Any
imperfections of The Lovetones' previous visit to Melbourne had been
exorcised from local memory. Long live psychedelic pop.

PATRICK EMERY

www.fasterlouder.com.au/reviews/events/5882/

The Lovetones, Treetops @ Northcote Social Club, (01/09/06)


Reported by: snozrap - Sunday, Sep 03, 2006. 17:23

It being the first sunny day of spring, it was appropriate that the two
bands playing at the beloved Northcote Social Club were purveyors of
anthemic, sunny power-pop.

Melbourne band Treetops opened the night with their take on this brand of
pop, with a healthy dose of 70s rock added to the mix, to get an enjoyable
hybrid sound. The vocals were swapped around a bit, and seemed quite
versatile, going from summery melodies, to falsetto in the background, to a
country-tinged style on a couple of songs, and some Third Eye Blind-like
"Do-dos" thrown in for good measure. At one point there was even a
discernable element of 90s Hanson-esque pop vocals. This comparison was, of
course, helped by the shoulder-length blonde hair on two of the band
members.

The Lovetones opened their set with their recent single Mantra, with its
jangly guitar, and frontman Matthew Tow's vocals reminiscent of Noel
Gallagher. They branched out with what I first thought was a disappointing
10-second solo, but then later extended into a full-on instrumental
rock-out. Tow's 12-string guitar really enhances the band's sound, giving it
more depth.

Many of The Lovetones' songs have a crisp, clear sound- you can hear the
words being sung. This clarity also translates into the concise,
straightforward pop nature of some of their songs. When they decide not to
have a clean sound, it doesn't matter because those instrumental sections
add a certain weight to the live performance.

Pictures was a highlight. It had a spasmodic structure that lent itself to
the showmanship of the band. The slowish start, with spacey keyboards and a
guitar solo ascended into inspired instrumental territory, before meandering
into a laid-back jam session sort of feel. By the end it had become almost
epic, going from quiet section to loud again and again, like different
movements in a symphony.

The Lovetones seemed more slick than Treetops in terms of their musical
performance. Months of touring the world with the Brian Jonestown Massacre
seem to have translated into a professional-looking live act. Unfortunately,
this was disproved as their set wore on and banter between band and audience
degenerated into heckling and insults.

They closed their set by announcing they would not be doing an encore- an
unusual, but refreshing, move these days. The refrain of their final song
was "I'm never gonna be the way that you want me," perhaps directed at their
detractors in the crowd.

www.diskant.net/reviews/2006/08/various-artists-psychedelica-volume.htm

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?
vnu_content_id=1003017910

http://www.limitedaddition.com/010.html

http://mirolloeselblog.blogspot.com/2006/04/una-buena-coleccin-3-
lovetones.html

http://www.losingtoday.com/reviews.php?review_id=3114

http://www.brianjonestownmassacre.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?
t=2709&sid=1963d137d36da2f3e3e19bbbe0027aca

order your size from www.thelovetones.com or
www.myspace.com/thelovetones
enjoy..

apparently we collaborate with sonic youth.. i must have been sick
that day.
http://asia.cnet.com/music/0,39058993,39262536p,00.htm

http://www.napster.com/view/artist/index.html?id=12079721

On Aug 5, 2006, at 4:04 PM, the lovetones wrote:

> fire records will release james joyce 'chamber music' on 24th august.
> you can pre order here..
> www.firerecords.com/site/index.php?page=release&releaseid=300
Hooray! I'm glad this is FINALLY coming out.

-c.

fire records will release james joyce 'chamber music' on 24th august.
you can pre order here..
www.firerecords.com/site/index.php?page=release&releaseid=300
cheers
the lovetones

www.underexposed.org.uk/lovetones/lovetones1.htm

http://www.kittenpainting.co.uk/lovetones.html


http://www.underexposed.org.uk/lovetones

From the  "wee Aussie indie-mod action figure."

http://www.losingtoday.com/reviews.php?review_id=3114

hey people, now you can get all the colorsound stuff locally in
australia through www.reverberation.com.au also available is drop
city's 'yesterday, today, tomorrow', and all the early bomp bjm
releases...well done reverberation!
cheers
matt

rough translation...


The Lovetones: sixties psyche journey.

The interstellar trip begins a little awkwardly - some seemingly not
appreciating their
music - The Lovetones, a combo fascinated by the sixties deserve to be opening
act. A
preliminary flight before the soaring leap of the BJM.  The songs in the manner
of byrds/
beatles of the Australian group (being part of the stable Tee Pee Records, with
their
friends The Brian Jonestown Massacre, with which they share the same equipment)
are
mostly effective and well written, even though they often lack a little
originality.  That
being said, without never to have heard about this group, one taps the foot, one
smiles
and one begins gliding pleasantly thanks to the beautiful voice of the singer,
to his Vox
twelve string guitar and to the psychedelic moods distilled without any
moderation.


RD



--- In thelovetones@yahoogroups.com, "the lovetones" <thelovetones@...> wrote:
>
> http://www.foutraque.com/chronique_concert.php?id=2446
>

Thanks for this!

To me, this was the highlight of the evening!


>From: "the lovetones" <thelovetones@...>
>Reply-To: thelovetones@yahoogroups.com
>To: thelovetones@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [thelovetones] matthew  tow w/ bjm in amsterdam on youtube
>Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 23:13:23 -0000
>
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s87759sByCk&search=lovetones
>
>
>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s87759sByCk&search=lovetones

http://www.foutraque.com/chronique_concert.php?id=2446

http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/review/1541