Temper Temper – Self/Titled / 2005 Revelation Records / 11 Tracks / http://www.revelationrecords.com / Reviewed 27 March 2005

Wow, this is dance-punk done to a t! The first track on the disc, “Trust Me”, starts out and just begs everyone listening to shake their ass just a little. Lead singer Pat Fuller blasts through such dance-punk crooners as Brandon Flowers and shows some pipes. Tracks like “Terror Tongue and Cheek” look back to the eighties for their electronic environment, and this does not disappear in the least throughout the disc. In what is nearest perfection that I’ve heard in the last few years, the guitar/drum dynamic in “Trainwreck Flare” would make the utterly perfect backing beat in a rap track, and in terms of general music, Temper Temper might even edge out the related (in terms of style and record label) Pitch Black. Continuing the eighties style for tracks like “Loaded Life”, Temper Temper really shun any newer-distinction and call forth the musical spirits of Duran Duran (funny how double-named bands share a common bond like that).

Temper Temper gets into a Doors-like groove during later-disc tracks like “Sexy Little Cuts”, where the synthesizers twinkle as Pat’s vocals achieve orgasmic level before blasting forth into the punk-like delivery that makes much of this disc some of the more memorable music to come out of the genre. Through the last few years I’ve reviewed dance-punk, it has matured from solid acts like The Flesh, The Faux and early Rapture to newer (and better) acts like The Aeffect and Temper Temper. The disc spins to a close before one expect it to – at 42 minutes this is by no means a short disc, but the melodies that Temper Temper have weaved through their disc are so compelling that time flies by. The seventies-rock epic that is “Cheap Little Target” (imagine The Eagles, The Who, and Styx for an idea on how this sounds) ends the disc, and really puts a regal ending to what is a great album.

Temper Temper has a twinge of retro-sound to their disc, but do not in any way stagnate themselves in a segment of history that has long passed. Each guitar riff and shuffling guitar riff that is found on this disc has as many ties to the present as it does to the rich history of popular music. Temper Temper is a band that will herald the continue acceptance and vitality of dance-punk, and don’t be surprised if someone plays a track off of this disc at teen night in the near future.

Top Tracks: Terror Tongue and Cheek, Cheap Little Target

Rating: 8.8/10