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Remember these guys? Formed 2005 in Kentucky, EMI took a fancy to the five-
Ahead of their eagerly anticipated second album due for release in late 2010, we thought we’d better remind...MORE>>
‘Sweet Disposition’ by self confessed “power pop” group The Temper Trap immediately brings to mind ‘Joshua Tree’ era U2, particularly the guitar part from ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’. This allows them to be slightly different from the mainstream music of the moment giving the band an intriguing sound. There are things which can be improved however, with the first minute filled with nothing memorable. Only after this does the song really get going, becoming an easy going, groovy pop tune.
The lyrics can also be looked at as negatives with lines such as “A moment of love, a dream, a laugh, a kiss, a cry, our rights, our wrongs.” it’s all been heard before and is
quite cheesy. This is unfortunate as it brings nothing new, and in fact hinders what could have been an extremely interesting song. One thing can be said though, Dougy (vocals/guitar) can sing and sing well, unlike many bands popular at the moment. At around the 3 minutes 30 mark, the song seems somewhat too long for its structure. It is repetitive and nothing gets added once it kicks in, something that could easily have been dealt with yet hasn’t.
As mentioned earlier, the song clearly takes influences from early U2 (a sound I’d rather wasn’t reinvented), and alongside this it has also received attention from Radio One’s Zane Lowe. With things seemingly going right for this Australian band, they are clearly on their way up, with mainstream success on the horizon. That said, this will be because they fall nicely into a category allowing them to gain fans of indie as well as pop and not because they are anything entirely new. In addition to this, ‘Sweet Disposition’ probably is the song to create interest in the group (if you like easy listening/power pop – check this band out), but it is not the song that will take the band to the top. They will need improvements – which band doesn’t – yet, consistency in their sound if they want to increase their fan base. Overall, this tune is interesting, but nothing special. Any attention will die down and The Temper Trap will need to up their game if they want to survive as a band.
