Monday, August 31, 2009

The Temper Trap review on JC Report




Put A Record On: The Temper Trap's London Calling
August 31st, 2009 | London

It's not often you hear Australian bands that sound more like Coldplay than Cut Copy—or any other band signed to Modular Records, for that matter—but London-dwelling The Temper Trap's debut album Conditions is a testament to the band's fondness for the UK's tradition of pure pop melodies.

The Coldplay comparison is both unfair and inevitable. Sure, TTT has piano and guitar-based songs destined for stadium success, but the quartet—who all share a house in trendy Hackney—has been clever enough to add a layer of cool freshness to the music. This comes mostly in the form of Dougy Mandagi's falsetto voice, which has more in common with MGMT than Chris Martin.

With songs such as the brilliant opener "Love Lost" and single "Science of Fear," there are also occasional U2 tendencies on Conditions—minus the rockstar ego, of course. "Fader" is another potential hit, and you can clearly hear the mighty hand of producer Jim Abbiss—of Arctic Monkey fame—guiding the band through the usual debut album traps. The Temper Trap is an Aussie force to be reckoned with—as long as they stay in London.

Conditions is out now. For more information, see www.myspace.com/thetempertrap.

—David Hellqvist

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