15th December 2009

Audio

Tempo No Tempo - The Rat (Part One)
Waking Heat (self-release)

Tempo No Tempo’s latest record is called Waking Heat.  When I put it on my turntable, I actually started getting excited.  I was expecting garbage (I won’t tell you why), and the first few tracks are really good.  ”The Rat (Part One)” and “Pole Position,” have noisy, post-punk guitarings, the drummer sounds like the one from Talk Normal, the vocals were reverbed-out like crazy, and the bass was punchy and overdriven.  So, I was getting amped about a surprise record, especially after “Get Down, Stay Down” picked things up with some of the screamin’est guitars out there.

But the thing is all over the place.  Sometimes they sound like they should be on the Famous Class record label, with all sorts of heavy post-punk noise in the vein of Boogie Boarder, Darlings, or, actually, even Double Dagger.  But then other times, I feel like I’m listening to Dashboard Confessional.  It’s really jarring, and I’m not sure what to make of it.  The tracks I’ve already mentioned, along with “Lay Your Magnets Down” and “Medicines,” are really quite good, but some songs, like “Line Drawing,” in particular, are just awful.

In junior high, all my report cards said “effort is sporadic.”

Tagged: hipster trashur indies