The Temper TrapWhen he's not commandeering the stage as the boisterous bassist for SoCal punks Blink-182, Tweeting wisdom to more than 1.6 million followers, or handling album production duties for bands like Motion City Soundtrack and New Found Glory, you'd think Mark Hoppus would turn down the music.
Not. Possible.
In our continuing series, Hopp on Pop, Hoppus is sharing his favorite acts, culled from his incessant pursuit of all that rocks. (Click here to discover Mark's previous picks: Brooklyn keyboard punks Matt & Kim, Kiwi dance rock goddess Ladyhawke, Canadian rock duo Japandroids, and NYC popsters fun.) Check out his fifth entry below, and come back to SPIN.com every Wednesday for Mark's latest discovery.
Be sure to follow more of Mark's opinions and exploits via Twitter and on his blog!
THE TEMPER TRAP
HOMETOWN:
London, via Melbourne, Australia
THE BASICS:
This quartet made a big splash earlier this year when their song "Sweet Disposition" featured prominently in the Zooey Deschanel/Joseph Gordon-Levitt film (500) Days of Summer. Their solid debut album, Conditions, fuses the arena-ready rock of U2 with post-millennial immediacy and '80s British shoegazer bands.
WHERE HOPP HEARD THEM FIRST:
"Actually, from my friend Justin, who turned me on to Ladyhawke. We were driving to go to lunch, and Temper Trap were playing at the Roxy that night. We saw their name on the marquee, and he was like 'You gotta check these guys out. They're really amazing.' I checked them out, and they were."
WHY THEY ROCK:
"They're produced by James Abbiss, who did U.N.K.L.E. and Arctic Monkeys. When I listen to Temper Trap, it really reminds me of late '80s early '90s Manchester bands like Charlatans UK, and bands of that genre. I don't know why exactly that is -- maybe it's in the drum patterns they use."
HOPP'S TOP TRACK:
"'Science of Fear.' I love the guitars on that song and it reminds me of late '80s Teenage Fanclub stuff, or one of those Manchester bands."
FIND OUT MORE: thetempertrap.net
02.24.10 5:22 AM
Yes. Sweet Disposition is very similar in guitar style to the Edge on the echoing, vibrato of Streets Have No Name from the Joshua Tree masterwork. (BTW, isn't With or Without You an utter classic, it takes 2 minutes before the lead guitar sets in! What a restrained moving masterpiece) Achtung Baby is a masterpiece too. Stylistically and thematically different to Joshua but in the same framework and atmospherics. The grittiness and grime of Berlin. Some of Bowie's best work created there. Pop is excellent; as is Zooropa. I am pleased TT are doing well; but in future they should be careful to steer clear of U2's sound. Peace (and Equality) on Earth!