Singing about terror, cutting, self-abuse and blood behind disco rock beats hasn't been a commonly used approach in today's music scene.
Temper Temper is set on changing things.
The dance-rock group from Milwaukee is stopping by The Continental, at 212 Franklin St. in Buffalo, Saturday evening fully outfitted with leisure suits, bruises and their most finely-polished dancing shoes.
"We're never really set on sounding like one thing. We'll write a dance-rock song, but there's more content behind it in the lyrics. We don't want to have just another song out there on the radio, we want people to actually realize that there's depth to it," said Keith Stendler, the band's drummer.
According to Stendler, the baleful lyrical content stems from Patrick Fuller, the band's front man and songwriter, and his unique musical taste.
"Patrick writes all the lyrics and he likes darker, depressing music. He writes about things he sees or people he knows. It's kind of weird that he only writes about the darker things, but it works for us," Stendler said.
"What's your poison? What's your favorite way to shake?" Fuller sings on "Trainwreck Flare," one of the tracks off the band's self-titled debut album, released in late March.
The less-than-jolly lyrics can be difficult to decipher amidst screaming guitars and mesmerizing synthesizers, but the resulting product can appeal to disco dancers, fist-pumping hardcore rockers, and the hipsters mixed in between.
Stendler feels the music's wide appeal comes from the varied musical background of each of the band members.
"We had all been playing in different bands doing basement shows and whatnot, and then all the bands fell apart at the same time. We knew each other then, so we just decided to get together and form (Temper Temper). The result has made the songwriting process really collaborative. Everything that we put together sounds unique, but we're all different. We're all really open-minded when it comes to things like that," Stendler said.
The flexible method is fully evident on Temper Temper's album, as it reaches from the punchy-anthem style of "Heart Like a Fist" to the spellbinding synthesizer-driven "Trust Me" to the strung out "Cheap Little Target" to "Bleed for Me, Comrade," which takes a cue from the guitar-style of Electric Six's Johnny Nashinal.
With influences ranging from the Police, Thin Lizzy and Led Zeppelin to the Birthday Party and the Misfits, it's impossible to have a predetermined agenda.
"It's all about writing what we feel that day," Stendler said. "Songwriting evolves on its own. There's never been a plan for us."
Many times the spontaneity of the band's attitudes is reflected lyrically.
"We are always off in some sense/ this black collective of unrest/ it's not like you're dead, but you'll push all those clouds side to side/ we have only got this one chance/ to subside your face in substance," Fuller sings on "Sin Spin Sin," one of the album's more metaphorical tracks.
Temper Temper's music may be enthralling, but each of the members has other obligations outside of music, at least for now.
"We all have jobs and we go to work, but we hate the jobs. If I wasn't playing in a rock band, I don't know what I'd do," Stendler said.
Fortunately for Temper Temper, going on tour can be a breath of fresh air for any stale office job.
Temper Temper will be playing with Pitch Black, With No Good Deed, Insomnias Line, and Discount Auto Parts at The Continental Saturday night. Doors open at 9 p.m. and the show begins at 10 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
