{"id":794,"date":"2010-06-05T08:02:50","date_gmt":"2010-06-05T08:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/?p=794"},"modified":"2010-06-08T17:30:05","modified_gmt":"2010-06-08T17:30:05","slug":"temper-trapped-or-lifting-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/2010-06\/temper-trapped-or-lifting-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Temper Trapped or Lifting Off?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We sauntered down to Soho Thursday night in Santa Barbara to check out Melbourne, Australia’s Temper Trap band brought to you by Club Mercy.\u00a0 Only time will tell this five-piece band’s long-term artistic merit, but as witnessed Thursday they clearly have the ability and drive to take over a venue and rev up a crowd as well as any young band out there.\u00a0 The jury’s out though on a key question:\u00a0 can this band develop its own voice and continue to captivate more discerning crowds long-term?<\/p>\n

We were pretty worked from the workweek as we walked in the doors at Soho, but the band came on immediately, and our desire to flee for home fled.\u00a0 Temper Trap and its Indonesian-born singer, Dougy Mandagi, soon Motowned their way into the college-crowd’s heart with Mandagi’s Smokey Robinson-esque vocals on Rest<\/em> (from its only record, “Conditions”), <\/em>while the band drove the song with its TV on The Radio (TVOR) sound.\u00a0\u00a0 Fader <\/em>followed with its energetic, spot-on Ben Folds simulation.\u00a0 And the crowd danced on.\u00a0 The band then lit up with the very Arcade-ian Fire song Down River. <\/em>Later, the Tempered ones dove into Love Lost, <\/em>with Mandagi invoking Prince to deliver his message of loss via a Coldplay backdrop.\u00a0\u00a0 And the crowd raved on.\u00a0 The band then segued into Resurrection<\/em> (with its incessant TV on the Radio and Yeasayer affectations) before ending its set with its catchy anthem, Sweet Disposition (<\/em> heard on the “500 Days of Summer” soundtrack).\u00a0 Unfortunately, Sweet Disposition<\/em> entails the band’s most blatant sound reproduction, this time replicating U2’s sound circa Joshua Tree (albeit with stellar group-vocal attack by TT).\u00a0 Needless to say, the crowd again went wild.<\/p>\n

The band encored with torrid, tribal Drum Song<\/em>, with Mandagi ably adding stand-up-snare rhythms and top-hat to drummer Toby Dundas’s attack.\u00a0 As good as it was, if we looked away all we heard was fellow Aussie band Midnight Oil circa 1988.\u00a0 And when we looked back we expected to see MO’s Peter Garrett banging on his snare while railing away on vocals.\u00a0 But instead of a tall, bald-pated dude, it was Mandagi and his mates, and the crowd worshiped on.\u00a0 Temper Trap brought its set to an end with Science of Fear<\/em>, once again employing major TVOR soundings.<\/p>\n

And the whole time, the crowd went wild.\u00a0 And we admit that there is reason for the crowd to be enthralled since Temper Trap delivers its songs with verve and a multitude of musical and vocal talent.\u00a0 This is a band that has serious, arena-size aspirations, which translates well to large festival and small club stages alike.\u00a0 Make no mistake:\u00a0 they have the chops and drive to be huge, and Mandagi in particular has Buckley\/Prince\/(pick your favorite singer) caliber pipes.<\/p>\n

But as hinted at above (subtlety admittedly not being our strength), this is a band that’s going to have to quickly develop its own distinctive sound and step-away from its blatant aping of its musical influences.\u00a0 From what we can gather from its first record, “Conditions,” the band has good and interesting things to say lyrically (Science of Fear<\/em>‘s lament of the science-community’s derision of faith is particularly well-done).\u00a0 But the musical derivativeness undermines at every turn, and our focus remains on the sounds of the originating bands, with Temper Trap’s good message getting trapped off to the side.\u00a0 We will hope that the next round of songs (Conditions was released early last year) will transcend.<\/p>\n

Yep, we have bemoaned this issue repeatedly recently regarding several young bands.\u00a0 We hope this won’t continue to be the case.\u00a0 While there’s nothing new under the proverbial sun, and much of rock and roll has been influenced by predecessors and contemporaries, the better bands have been less blatant about their borrowings and managed to significantly separate themselves from their influences (could this be the latest and most tangible totem of the “Everything is Free” music-generation?).<\/p>\n

Perhaps we’re just yearning for a new revelation instead of obvious retreads.\u00a0\u00a0 Thinking back, we may just be craving more moments like the exact moment when we first recognized the power in the ravings of\u00a0 Johnny Rotten as he vehemently decried the Queen’s fascist regime in God Save the Queen<\/em> (’twas 1977, while driving through flooded Pacific Beach and watching kids run\/wade across the street from Tower Records screaming and flashing their prized “Never Mind the Bollocks” records while Rodney Bingenheimer revved up the song on KROQ). <\/em>And we may just be longing for other oracular moments (1991, driving onto the Bay Bridge via the 2nd Street on-ramp in San Francisco) like when we first heard Kurt Cobain’s vocals squalling full-on in Nirvana’s game-changing Smells Like Teen Spirit<\/em>.\u00a0 These were moments and sounds that were unique and grabbed you by the soul.<\/p>\n

Incredibly high standards?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 You may not be the next Sex Pistols or Nirvana (look where it got them for heavens’ sake!), but please don’t just cut and paste\u00a0 your influences onto your sleeves.\u00a0 Give good thought and full measure to transcending (or at least differentiating from) those you admire.<\/p>\n

So dear Temper Trap:\u00a0 we agree with the merit of those who have influenced you.\u00a0 But next time?\u00a0\u00a0 Visit a distant, ingenious island, and when you come back, come out swinging and set yourselves apart.\u00a0 Otherwise there will be a lot of playing weddings in Melbourne.\u00a0 And not much else.<\/p>\n

But check ’em out and let us know:<\/p>\n