Monday, January 08, 2007

The Temper Trap - EP

The Temper Trap - The Temper Trap EP (Liberation)

Everyone's talking about The Temper Trap. They've had some peachy support gigs, most recently Modest Mouse at the Palace (incidentally, I hate that venue, can't wait for them to tear it down). They're soon playing four south-east cities with Snowman, another so-hot-right-now Aussie band, then supporting Brits Kasabian. Then playing the Laneway Festivals, the V Festivals and the Great Escape Festival.

Phew. These guys know that when you're a buzz band you've gotta make the most of the hype.

They have released a self-titled EP, though. It's a pretty well-recorded affair which reveals them as mostly what you'd expect. The single's Sirens, a simply energetic piece of indie-wave, with not too many lyrics, a bouncy rhythm section, and an anthemic hook in the unearthly vocals. It's fun, and My Sun does it all again, though a bit more rock in execution, with some crunching stop-start chords but mostly zipping along.

While the music is decent, Dougy's wailing vocals are the band's standout characteristic on these tracks. So when he drops back to singing on the slower Peter Parker Alter Ego, restraining himself, it's a bit of a disappointment. And the lyrics are a bit crap - "I'm stripped down and open and naked/ And noone even seems to care/ Apparently you know the difference/ Between money and a millionaire" - the kinda rhyming non-sequiturs that aren't quite as insightful as they sound. The music, too, gets a bit ponderous; the guys are so light on their feet in the quick numbers that it seems a shame to slow down for the sake of it. Sunday Painter falls somewhere in between; a decent album track but nothing special, sliding maybe a little emo in places.

But the first two tracks are fun. Let's hope the band make the most of their ubiquity to be seen in the right places and meet the right people, and impress with their energetic live show. And then write some great songs for the debut album.

[hear every track from the EP at their myspace]

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said:

I think the temper trap are petty great live which is why they have had so many stellar recent oppportunities. As soon as a band gets popular people get suspicious but for a band that seems to have been around just a short while they are showing all the right signs. The EP is really good, definitely not amazing but you hear the live tracks and you realise something pretty special is happening with them and they might jsut be the latest band to take melbourne to the world while helping shine the torch that AIH, Dirty 3 and so few others have been able to do of late...

5:26 pm  

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