Temples – Sun Structures

You don’t have to know much about this band to know who they are inspired by.  Less than ten seconds in you can hear The Byrds – certainly not a bad inspiration.  Temples have been somewhat endorsed by none other than Noel Gallagher who called them “Britain’s best new band” making it easy to expect a lot from this album. 

Having seemingly been around for a while before releasing their debut album Sun Structures, the four-piece from Kettering have supported the likes of the Rolling Stones and Kasabian.  Having built up quite a fan base, including Johnny Marr, they are currently embarking on their UK tour including a night at Brixton Academy.  Not bad for a band with just one album and all the hype is most certainly justified.  This album is fabulous.

Best described as “psychedelic rock” this record is hard to turn off.  From the very second you press play you know exactly what to expect and it doesn’t disappoint.  It’s unrealistic to expect any surprises on this album but why would you want that?  Temples have found a sound that works and a sound they can do and do well. Test of Time brilliantly shows off lead singer Thomas Warmsley’s range of vocals whilst Sand Dance provides a glorious ending instrumental to the track and is a contender for best song on the album. It toys with eastern strings combined with endearing backing vocals and produces some of the best guitar on the record.  Move With the Season has an orchestral sound to it and sports the vocals of both Warmsley and bassist James Bagshaw, this is also a standout track.  Hit single Mesmerise is catchy and upbeat with intelligent lyrics, something that is apparent throughout.   They may be too young a band to have a familiar sound and, given their influence, their sound will probably never be theirs as comparisons to the aforementioned artists will always persist, however they do make this album theirs; after the first two tracks you forget the comparisons and simply enjoy Temples.

This is a shockingly good first effort.  This band have a bright future ahead of them and have all the signs that they’ll just get better and better.  In terms of experimenting, who knows, but their current formula is spot on.

Alice Barker

Sun Structures was released on 10^th February 2014. For further information or to order the album visit Temples’ website here.

Watch the video for Mersmerise here: