The Temper Trap (Infectious)
Australia’s answer to Coldplay? Well that’s kinda how Melbourne quartet The Temper Trap are being spruiked to us.
And there’s certainly something in the comparisons: their music is imbued with the kind of spaciousness and atmosphere that is generally (and boringly) filed under ‘epic’.
Even so, there’s plenty to enjoy here.
Dougy Mandagi’s Jimmy Sommerville falsetto is pleasingly buoyed by guitars, sometimes shimmering and soaring as on Rest, and sometimes urgent and rapid-fire – as though they’ve been lifted straight from U2’s The Unforgettable Fire – as on Fools and Sweet Disposition.
And yet, for reasons TNT Music can’t quite pinpoint, Conditions just doesn’t possess that indelible quality that has you humming its tunes for the rest of the day.
So it’s a good album, not a great one.
But nevertheless it showcases the prodigious talent of this foursome.
Let’s just say we’ll be watching with some interest to see what they come up with next.
ALISON GRINTER
