Temple Grounds

Temple Grounds EP

Written by: TL on 25/09/2011 15:18:18

Here's a review for those of you who are anxiously waiting for the first Francesqa album, or perhaps for a band to come around a try a lighter, brighter and poppier approach to the current British alternative rock delivered by bands like Lower Than Atlantis and Blitzkids. That's essentially what newcoming London-quartet Temple Grounds deliver on the self-titled EP they released this May. Much like Lower Than Atlantis, they keep things simple in terms of elements, making do without horns, strings, bells, whistles or any of the other trendy production tricks, instead proving once again that good things can come of a nice clean recording and a sense for interesting song-writing.

Unlike Lower Than Atlantis, Temple Grounds rely on guitars that are crisp rather than crunchy, and songs that grow calmly and confidently rather than run ahead in an entirely straightforward matter. Furthermore, with three of the four members contributing clean vocals, the singing sounds nice both when only one voice is heard, and when others contribute harmonies or backing choirs. Couple this focus on clean sounds and songs that mostly move at medium tempo and you have my basis for saying that the band is probably more aligned with Francesqa than with LTA, but fans of both might still want to give "Temple Grounds EP" a chance.

The EP offers five tracks, starting with the up-beat "Half Alive", which trives on the rhythm of a nice indie-rock riff in the verse. "My Way Out" follows at a more laid-back pace, profiting from nicely interlaced guitar lines, an immediately catchy chorus and some nice tempo changes throughout. "Sun And Rise" initially keeps things relatively calm, yet growing louder progressively while sporting dominant vocal harmonies reminiscent of those of Elliot Minor. "Tear Down The Sky" works well in the way it breaks down an up-beat verse with a surprisingly chugging chorus. Finally, "Say It All" ends the EP with an atmospheric, almost post-rock-ish mood - a little like Lights Action - hinting that Temple Grounds may have a future potential for some epic moments.

Overall though, while the songs on "Temple Grounds EP" are all quite good, none of them have the kind of immediate hit quality that it takes to really raise some eyebrows and take the band to another level. It does however show without question, that the band has got a knack for dynamic, versatile songwriting, and quite a few good elements in place to keep working with. Furthermore the quality of the recording is brilliant for a band that I'm hearing off for the very first time, and all together, I think these lads are set to go. All they need is to save some money for a debut album and then get in a room and take their songwriting to the next stage, then they'll be fighting for page space in the English magazines in no time.

Download: My Way Out, Tear Down The Sky
For The Fans Of: Francesqa, Lower Than Atlantis, Lights Action, Elliot Minor
Listen: facebook.com/TempleGrounds

Release Date 16.05.2011
Sounds Unique Entertainment

Temple Grounds EP by TempleGrounds

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.