In the two and a half years since the release of their last album Rookie, Brisbane’s The Trouble With Templeton have, says frontman Thomas Calder, been busy “breaking down and re-assembling what it means to make music for us.” On the evidence of the richly confident and clear-sighted Someday, Buddy, released through Bella Union, that time was well spent. The full-bodied songs here can take the emphasis, no trouble. The Trouble With Templeton weren’t slouching on Rookie, where Calder and company wedded vibrant melodies and multifarious alt-rock flavours - epic, jangly, glam - to a core of emotive cogency. On Someday, Buddy, however, their personality emerges sharper and clearer. “Our goal was to make a record that is raw, bare and honest,” says Calder, a claim borne out by the incisive lyrics of the swelling Sailor and lilting Heavy Trouble, where Calder’s falsetto dances over a tender indie folk backdrop. Sometimes fragile, sometimes forceful, Calder’s voice remains a marvel on Bad Mistake, a combination of intricate verses and a huge chorus pitched somewhere between Pavement and Elliott Smith. Someday, Buddy’s recipe is one of slow burn songs harbouring great reserves of potency: the discreet neo glam swagger of Complex Lips, the sunburst chorus of Vernon, the gorgeous ripples of album highlight 1832. LP pressed on white vinyl with digital download code.
