After only a year’s break, Cheatahs are back and raring to go. Although this is only their second full-length album, several EPs and several years worth of industry experience makes this album an incredibly polished affair. Mythologies certainly isn’t as consistently heavy as their self-titled first album was, but it loses nothing for this. In fact, they seem to have grown up, out of the garage and onto the stage.

From Cheatahs to Mythologies, the band seems to have taken a few notes from Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker; the whole record seems infused with a sunny Aussie psychedelica. Songs like ‘Signs to Lorelei’ are close to ‘It Feels Like We Only Go Backwards’, but lack the sing-along potential that makes Tame Impala’s Lonerism so grabbing. Instead, Nathan Hewitt’s vocals complement the band rather than stick out from it. It’s actually quite refreshing for the focus to be put on the band instead of the lead singer’s ego; it means that we appreciate tracks like ‘Colorado’ and ‘Supra’ purely for the fabness of the fuzzy guitars and the mosh pit potential. The overlay on the vocals means that we miss a bit of what could potentially be lyrical genius, but when you’re head-banging that hard, it’s a bit tricky to get the words out anyway.

The quality of the recordings on Mythologies makes it sound as though the songs have all been recorded in quite a small space, but the instruments transcend the recording studio. The soaring guitar solo in ‘Murasaki’ drifts above the rest of the band and guides the listener through the fast-paced drums and murky guitar to the introduction of the vocal line.

Mythologies is definitely an album’s album, one that you have to listen to from back to front rather than dip into now and again. It’s whirling and trippy and expansive. It’s Cheatahs.

Jemima Skala