Temples debuted its sophomore album, “Volcano,” earlier this month. The British quartet, discovered on YouTube, emerged into the public eye with its hit “Shelter Song,” garnering hefty admiration for its first album. Naturally, with new material on the horizon, fans of Temples held high expectations. The band respectably takes pride in producing the album and taking its time with the creative process. After watching a few interviews, I was under the impression the band members were making music for themselves, and whether people appreciated it was irrelevant. “Volcano” was a chance for them to experiment with new sounds and grow musically. The album is more synth-heavy than the last, with the vocals nearly obliterated in haziness. Personally, I thought its initial album was good, but not great. When I stumbled across “Volcano,” it was an immediate regret.
The sound is faithful to its predecessor “Sun Structure” as Temples continues to follow the neo-psychedelic/progressive-rock path. Yet the first time I listened through the album it seemed overplayed; to put it baldly, the album lacked excitement. “Volcano” stylistically mimics Tame Impala and Melody’s Echo, but in an uncharismatic fashion; it almost comes off as a caricature. The songs seemed to align primarily with space rock with hooks that try too hard — which made it seem as if I was listening to a string of hopeful chart toppers. The album is upbeat and painfully redundant, with the exception of slower tracks such as, “In My Pocket” and “How Would You Like To Go?” Meanwhile, “Certainty,” the opening track, boasted an unappealing instrumental that sounds like it should accompany a ‘90s video game. The closing track, “Strange or Be Forgotten,” a song about mankind’s obsession with being remembered posthumously, was overly reverbed and sounded whiny. The vocals are tinny and fuzzy, somehow buried in the instrumentals, yet they definitely resemble the Beatles.
In an interview with Something You Said, a pop culture website, Temples bassist Thomas Warmsley said, “Our greatest influences are those records which create this complete atmosphere around their songs, and invite the listener into the world their songs exist in.” Tame Impala implemented this process with the synths, as Kevin Parker did so artfully on “Currents.” I assume Temples tried to replicate this, but to no avail; the synths were more distracting than mesmerizing.
Certainly, the album is meticulously crafted, but the crispness doesn’t make up for the empty listening experience and lack of personality.
“Volcano” has received mixed reviews thus far; those who were underwhelmed with the album probably pinpointed the divergence from its first album. “Sun Structures” guitars and snare drums contributed to a prosody that seemed to have teleported from the ‘60s. The energy and harmonies amplified ingrained influences of the Beatles, the Byrds, etc. Ironically, once the band starts innovating, listeners seemed disappointed that they left its “nostalgic” sound behind.
My disappointment stems from my wariness of purposefully retrogressive music, particularly the psychedelic revival phenomenon. While “Volcano” may be inherently experimental, I felt that it was stuck on a loop. To be clear, any art form is subject to inspiration. But I felt that Temples delivered an album that will be forgotten in a genre oversaturated with influence.
Is Temples trapped in this aesthetic movement? This is unlikely the case — it’s not like they’re constantly ripping off riffs of other artists and passing it off as quirkiness.
I’m sure the Temples are trying out a new mold and will probably continue to do so until they foresee a niche sound sticking with them for a while.
Ultimately, the album has its moments, but it’s nothing brilliant. Personally, the album didn’t take me anywhere but the skip button, but it’s still a gallant effort from a relatively recent group.
