The Temper Trap
Download Treating the crowd at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire to the entirety of their debut album, Conditions, the Melbourne quartet rattled through their delay-soaked set at breakneck speed.
Unusually for a band with so many distinctive tracks, they started with a brief instrumental number which lacked dramatic impact.
Nevertheless as soon as the instantly recognisable synthesiser and drum introduction of Rest began, the crowd was instantly engaged.
Despite doing epic pop so well, it was the atmospheric, slow burner Soldier On that stole the show - the sparse arrangement allowing the falsetto vocals to soar.
However it was one of a number of tracks that seemed ill-placed in the set list.
While each individual song was performed with energy and confidence, the running order didn’t make the most of the momentum many of their songs rely on.
The first half was a little stop start, and the Aussie rockers left too many of their best songs until the second half.
Of course this is a problem they will overcome when they have a larger back catalogue to choose from.
Debuting a mystery new acoustic song in the encore, it seems the band is hinting at a tamer approach for their follow up record.
With a full tour ahead of them the band admit that writing isn’t their top priority at the moment, perhaps it will be a while before they write a song capable of further increasing their appeal.
Bassist, Jonathan unusually used a thumb-plectrum to create a percussive timbre and he particularly impressed during the growling Resurrection as it built to its inevitable climax.
Guitarist Lorenzo demonstrated his knack of writing memorable riffs and providing effective atmospheric colour but was occasionally a little lost in the mix.
He came to the fore during the instrumental Drum Song especially and also entertained by swapping to synthesiser and percussion during certain sections.
Understandably lauded for his distinctive thrusts of falsetto, front man, Dougie, who enjoys both prowling the stage and dabbling with auxiliary percussion is also equally adept when attacking more conventional vocal lines in his lower range.
It also provides a welcome variation in style during tracks such as Fader as even his well honed higher frequencies become a little samey.
Birthday boy and drummer Toby was a solid presence and replicated the tempos of the recorded versions of the tracks almost exactly – as one fan outside commented, “It sounded just like the record!” Although well executed, it lacked a little of the uniqueness one normally associates with a live performance.
The best known of their tightly constructed anthems came across well, Sweet Disposition naturally drawing the biggest reaction from the crowd. New single, Science of Fear was saved until the encore to end the evening on a particularly rousing note.
Unusually for a band with so many distinctive tracks, they started with a brief instrumental number which lacked dramatic impact.
Nevertheless as soon as the instantly recognisable synthesiser and drum introduction of Rest began, the crowd was instantly engaged.
Despite doing epic pop so well, it was the atmospheric, slow burner Soldier On that stole the show - the sparse arrangement allowing the falsetto vocals to soar.
However it was one of a number of tracks that seemed ill-placed in the set list.
While each individual song was performed with energy and confidence, the running order didn’t make the most of the momentum many of their songs rely on.
The first half was a little stop start, and the Aussie rockers left too many of their best songs until the second half.
Of course this is a problem they will overcome when they have a larger back catalogue to choose from.
Debuting a mystery new acoustic song in the encore, it seems the band is hinting at a tamer approach for their follow up record.
With a full tour ahead of them the band admit that writing isn’t their top priority at the moment, perhaps it will be a while before they write a song capable of further increasing their appeal.
Bassist, Jonathan unusually used a thumb-plectrum to create a percussive timbre and he particularly impressed during the growling Resurrection as it built to its inevitable climax.
Guitarist Lorenzo demonstrated his knack of writing memorable riffs and providing effective atmospheric colour but was occasionally a little lost in the mix.
He came to the fore during the instrumental Drum Song especially and also entertained by swapping to synthesiser and percussion during certain sections.
Understandably lauded for his distinctive thrusts of falsetto, front man, Dougie, who enjoys both prowling the stage and dabbling with auxiliary percussion is also equally adept when attacking more conventional vocal lines in his lower range.
It also provides a welcome variation in style during tracks such as Fader as even his well honed higher frequencies become a little samey.
Birthday boy and drummer Toby was a solid presence and replicated the tempos of the recorded versions of the tracks almost exactly – as one fan outside commented, “It sounded just like the record!” Although well executed, it lacked a little of the uniqueness one normally associates with a live performance.
The best known of their tightly constructed anthems came across well, Sweet Disposition naturally drawing the biggest reaction from the crowd. New single, Science of Fear was saved until the encore to end the evening on a particularly rousing note.
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