Easy Tiger
"Temper, temper" is what my mother would say to me in a rather condescending manner whenever I was irate and annoying her. And therefore, due to my own posterity it means that for the band's name, it is surprisingly apt. Why exactly, I'm still trying to figure out. What I do know is that often whilst listening to this self-titled debut, some weird transition would occur. I'd be quite happily bopping along enjoying this homage to 80's synth-pop, when I suddenly I catch myself stuck with this grating repetitiveness filling the air. How did that happen? How can something quite good change to totally bloody annoying within the space of about 3 minutes? I had just such a moment of clarity years ago in those halcyon days of raving from Friday night through to Monday with nought but a disco-biscuit for nourishment. Bopping quite happily to some hard trance when it dawned on me that I was rammed in a sweat-box whilst exposed to the most mind-numbingly boring repetitive beats. This was like Chinese water-torture and I'd chosen to be there. But that was a real "Verve" moment where the "drugs don't work" anymore....for me at least, it was the beginning of the end of Acid-house.
You see, the thing is, with this whole New-Wave kick-back, is if you're gonna do it, then you've gotta do it really rather well. You also need to be something of a purist. All the kookiness and attitude of a rock band, with the catchy hooks and marketability of a Bubblegum pop artist. Temper Temper do most of it pretty well, but somewhere along the line it doesn't quite deliver. More manky-old-crimp than New Wave although there is some substance here to work with. What they need is a musical hot-oil treatment to tame the frizz. With a little conditioning Temper Temper could be really rather good.
Perhaps the same thought had occurred to their label when they were teamed with Jim Diamond. Something of a production maestro, his previous collaborations have included fellow Detroit artists The White Stripes, The Von Bondies and the sumptuous Electric Six. You'd be wrong to think Temper Temper are anywhere near the same league. And if you're after quality New-Wave, then there are any number of new American bands who have hopped on the bandwagon. In fact, to be perfectly frank, the likes of The Killers or The Bravery are doing it that much better.
Citing influences from T-Rex and Gary Numan to Led Zeppelin and PiL, I was hoping to hear a wonderful punky rock with a power-pop and glam twist. How wrong was I? There's not one single I can hear on this album. No hooky chorus or a phrase or two that is so infectious that just one play on the radio will have it embedded on your short term memory and leave you crying out for more.
What Temper Temper have is an established sound which has certain uniqueness...not unfortunately in a Dandy Warhols way who at least managed to write one really good song and carve a career out by recording it over and over. Temper Temper's every song sounds the same...whiny and depressing. I can't tell where one song ends and the next one starts. Instead this album has blurred into a cesspit of distorted guitar and vocals. Perhaps it is the vocal that grates on me more than anything else, even though every time I first put on this album, I make a mental note to myself how much I like his voice. Instead, I should be making a note that reads "don't opine on the vox until 10 minutes in" and then see how much that kooky timbre has assaulted my ears.
I'm not selling this album to you am I...? And I wanted to like it. The press release was sending the right alarm bells ringing. The band look good and the CD artwork is lovely: death, blood and white loafers...does it get any better? It's just...well it's just so bloody irritating. Even after several listens, it never fails to wind me up. And that, I'm sure is why they call themselves "Temper, Temper".