Review: “Conditions” ★★☆

The excitement surrounding Melbourne’s The Temper Trap and their soon-to-be released LP Conditions is electric. Having played to sold-out crowds everywhere over the past 12 months on the back of their highly successful Sweet Disposition EP while trying to live up to their billing as one of the best things to come out of Australia musically in recent years (they made the BBC’s top 15 ‘Sound of 2009’ longlist late last year), there’s no denying that they’ve created a mass of hype. So it comes as a little disappointing when their full-length debut doesn’t match expectations… And therein lies the problem with hype. While Conditions is an overall enjoyable, technically proficient listen that many a band would be proud to release, I had a hankering for a little more simply because I had bought into the buzz.

There are plenty of good things about Conditions, and not all of them to do with lead single Science of Fear. The band takes pride in the range of influences that have been drawn upon for this album: from  the blue-eyed soul-meets-alternative rock found in Love Lost, to the folky atmosphere reminiscent of Andrew Bird that forms the background of Down River, to the tribal-rock closer of Drum Song, The Temper Trap carve out a unique sound that, while instantly recognisable, is characterised by diversity. There are echoes of U2 and Keane as well as the dance-punk of Foals and Bloc Party that reverberate through the corridors between choruses but, at the same time, the record does not come off as a clumsily formulated tribute to their musical inspirations.

It’s not all good news, though. Fillers Rest and Fools - both about, well, not a lot really - don’t beg a deeper inquiry and songs that try to say too much inevitably don’t achieve enough. Love Lost is a case in point. For an opener that you assume will set the bar from the outset, our expectations for Conditions are quickly … reconditioned. The song provides a sheen of alternative pop-rock but ultimately goes nowhere beyond modern commercial radio. Which is fine if that’s what you’re trying to accomplish. But you get the sense that The Temper Trap are aiming for more.

The problem is that the surprisingly spacious, icy production from UK producer Jim Abbiss (think Arctic Monkeys and Adele) is almost so spacious that it leaves us empty. There is such a focus on technical proficiency that Dougie Mandagi, for all the stunning choral qualities in his voice, is made to sound disconnected from the subject matter, lacking empathy in several tracks: “our love was lost / but now it’s found” sounds clinical rather than triumphant, for example.

The best moments on Conditions are also surprising. Science of Fear and Sweet Disposition are acclaimed melodic spells but the true standouts are tracks 6 and 8. Fader is the slightly unhinged crowd-pleaser that, evocative of Blur and The Dandy Warhols, doesn’t take itself too seriously while Resurrection slowly crawls all the way to the four minute mark whereupon it explodes into a powerful, dirty war cry. More of this and less of the sterile safety inherent in other parts of the album would make it hard to put away. As it stands, Conditions is an enjoyable, accessible but ultimately - I venture to say - disposable record.

★★☆

See the review at Channel [V].