Arena rockers in waiting return with album number two
When Guns n Roses announced their reformation the other week to the general surprise of nobody whatsoever, a Houston newspaper became the latest in a long line to tell you rock was dead.
Those people who believe such a thing are deluded at best and downright stupid at worst. Rock n roll, is still there, still filling arenas, and still on the radio – if you know where to look.
And in the case of The Temperance Movement, it’s still selling records. Their debut full-length – released back in 2014 – crashed into the charts at number 12, and as well as being incredible, it showcased a band who were doing it the old-school way for the iPhone generation. They had brilliant songs, and they toured an EP in the tiniest places imaginable (the one that MV saw them in wasn’t even the main room in the pub in which it took place) paid their dues and ended 2014 by comfortably selling out some major sized venues.
All of which brings us to this. And if the “rock is dead” cliche is massively off the mark, there’s one that holds true. The “difficult second album” – even the aforementioned GnR struggled with that. So how do you follow up a record that was as good as TTMs was? The answer, it seems, is to make one that is just as good.
“White Bear” is unmistakably the work of this band, there’s a lot of things that are pretty similar to their other work, there’s the brilliant guitar of Luke Potashnick and Paul Sayer and the rhythm section of Damon Wilson on drums and Nick Fyfe on bass still has a rumble to shake buildings. And there’s the absolute trump card in this hand full of aces, singer Phil Campbell still brings his wail – and actually he has really let himself go here to quite wonderful effect. Notably on the stunning title track, which is a huge, soaring affair that is surely destined to be sung from stages around the world, and the ambitious “A Pleasant Peace I Feel” which you sense the band is particularly proud of.
Much has been made in the build up to the release of “White Bear” that the band is adding a more “contemporary” feel to their part The Faces, part the Stones, part Black Crowes retro Blusey mix. The truth is that the skill of the collection is that never feels like an abrupt departure from what had gone before, more a natural evolution from a band that has played hundreds of shows together and wants to stretch themselves.
So, for every song that could have featured comfortably on the debut, and opener “Three Bulleits” is one of these, there’s another, like “Oh Lorraine” (not, as far as MV can tell, an ode to the Queen of morning tele) which adds a pulsing kind of Stone Roses vibe. But even that isn’t as big a departure as it first seems, the likes of “Take It Back” from way back when always seemed to have Glastonbury rather than Bloodstock in mind, and “Magnify” here does likewise.
These songs have benefitted from road testing, plenty of them were being played on the Autumn tour 14 months or so back. A highlight then was “Get Yourself Free” and it doesn’t disappoint here with its clever use of backing vocals in the chorus.
When they want to The Temperance Movement can let their hair down with the best of them. “Modern Massacre” is heads down boogie, and “Battle Lines” is full of sneering swagger, but like previously they are capable of genuine tenderness. “I Hope I’m Not Losing My Mind”, which ensures that this – like the debut – ends with a ballad, mixes some personal lyrics with an interesting sonic mix.
So, beating the “difficult second album” complex seems easy enough, really. Ten songs – and in that it is much leaner than its predecessor – with the filler trimmed to a minimum. “White Bear” is a colossal statement of intent from a band that still embodies the spirit rock n roll.
Rating 9/10
