With their successful album Sun Structures being released back in 2014, Temples became an exciting new band to be welcomed into the psychedelic rock scene, giving Tame Impala and MGMT a run for their money. Three years later, they’re back with a new album Volcano, but does it live up the high expectations Sun Structures gave us?
Their first album is known for its happy melodic sound and summer vibe – an overall feel-good bunch of tracks. You may think Volcano doesn’t differ too much from this when you listen to the first few opening songs – especially Certainty – but as time goes on the songs start to interpret different genres into them. For example, Open Air definitely has a rock and roll ambiance to it that we haven’t heard from Temples before, and it worked well. Another track, Roman Godlike Man, sounds like a completely different band, so they have undoubtedly spiced up their sound throughout this record.
James Bagshaw, the band’s vocalist, described Volcano to Paste Magazine as being “a result of implementing a load of things that we didn’t know about the first time around [on Sun Structures]”, which is very true, as most tracks are generally disparate from their first album. Something worth noting is that the band self-produce their own music at a home studio – if that doesn’t show passion and credibility from these guys, what does?
So, the main question is – is this album on the same level as the genius Sun Structures? Despite being a great album, the answer is no. It doesn’t seem to have the same spark, and the songs don’t flow together as well due to not carrying the same psychedelic theme, but it is undeniably still an amazing album that’s well worth the 48 minutes.
It’s available to buy now or download from iTunes and Spotify.
Overall rating – 4/5
HETERODOX MUSIC 
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