Tempo No Tempo, Waking Heat

Tempo No Tempo , Waking Heat

By Kelsey Bryant » If 90s post-punk spent a little less time angry and a bit more time dancing, it would end up something like Tempo No Tempo. With grating discordance and imperfectly perfect vocals similar to At The Drive In or Cursive, Tempo No Tempo adds bass lines and polyrhythmic beats that push this San Francisco trio into new musical territory.

With its first full-length album, Waking Heat, stocked full of self-proclaimed “reggaeton disco dub punk” and with two critically acclaimed EPs behind them, Tempo No Tempo is a band quickly winning a national audience. In the whimsically dark “The Rat (Part One)”, frontman Tyler McCauley’s spirited vocals pair perfectly with driving percussion and tightly wound guitar riffs. “Kilometer” showcases minimalized synthesizers with a world beat and brief bouts of Fugazi-esque distortion. “Half Asleep” subtracts the harsh grit in favor of surprisingly melodic vocals and harmonizing guitar, lulling the album to a close.

Is it weird to feel nostalgic for the nineties? Either way, Tempo No Tempo has revived a dying genre with innovation and a refreshingly modern take.

Posted on December 01, 2009

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