There are lots of good things based in Milwaukee: "Laverne and Shirley," the Polish nation, and now the eccentric, aptly named rock band, Temper Temper.
With a keyboard-infused blend of pop, punk and dance rock, the band's self-titled first album manages to hold the listener's interest with a potpourri of electric melodies.
Still, one reason for the success of the album depends on the heavy influence of Duran Duran and The Cure. The riff in the opening song "Trust Me" sounds fiendishly similar to the one in Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out," on a synth instead of a guitar. The pop sections of the album take their queue from recent artists like Hot Hot Heat, sans annoying lead vocals.
Name-dropping aside, the band holds its own on tracks like "Cheap Little Target," the closing piece that puts a cap on the act. It becomes obvious why the band saved this piece for last. The pace isn't as rushed as the previous pieces on the album, allowing lead singer Patrick Fuller to fully explore his vocal range. Combine that with free-fall psychedelic guitar solos, elaborate church organs and meaty percussion, and Temper Temper truly exhibits its unique talent as a band.
Songs like "Terror Tongue and Cheek" are noisy filler to lengthen the album's running time, but for what certain songs lack, others more than compensate. "Heart Like a Fist" and the extremely catchy "Bleed for Me Comrade" threaten to sweep radios and dance halls across the nation.
Following the recent trend in edgy synth-rock, the album also has a constant undercurrent of adolescent sexual frustration buzzing through it.
Songs like "Delicate Limp" reveal genius in the making. With lyrics like, "Kick your legs up, you're a panther/ You swagger like a cancer," the band reveals a bruised and vulnerable side. Even titles such as "Sexy Little Cuts" and "Sin Spin Sin" ooze brilliance like Einstein's open sores.
The album is a tad short, clocking in at only 41 minutes with eleven tracks. But considering that "Temper Temper" is the band's first album, the quartet shows a lot of promise.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
