Not heard of these guys? Well here's a brief lesson that you're probably better off ignoring in favour of a Wikipedia summary. The Temperance Movement sprung up a few years ago with a solid debut featuring a couple of great standout tracks blending modern songwriting with riffing and supporting music inspired by 60's Rock, right down to Phil Campbell's raw Bluesy vocals (no, not THAT Phil Campbell). It wasn't the incredible commercial breakthrough that something like Royal Blood's debut achieved but it was enough to make me want to hear more of their material.
Album opener "Three Bullets" is a solid introduction to the new album that does more to appropriately tease the following half an hour of music than the flimsy title track. It's not as punchy as one of my personal favourites from their last album ("Take It Back") but it establishes a few key things about the band that have changed since 2013. Firstly, they're still Rocking out but have toned it down a little. Secondly, whilst there are noticeable influences from older Rock bands here and there which I'll get onto later, they've evolved into more of a modern sound.
The Garage Rock guitars have been swapped for contemporary Hard Rock ones and the bass has grown some fuzz since it was last played, although the drums are still pounding and the vocals are still suitably abrasive. I'm not sure if the band have chosen to adapt because it's the musical direction they want to follow or if it's an attempt to attract a more modern audience but the change in sound is somewhat commendable if it was down to the former decision, although maybe a little premature seeing as how the band's debut is arguably stronger.
I've praised bands for sticking with their original sound across albums when they're still in their salad days, as there's no point changing a successful formula when it clearly works. Mixing things up is fine when you're a few albums in and don't want to become stale but when you've only released one or two albums, you can probably ride the train a little further before changing lines. Either way, what's done is done and The Temperance Movement haven't made a complete fuck up like many other bands before them.
One of the album's lead singles blends the band's Southern-inspired riffing with contemporary Rock ("Oh Lorraine") and it's not the only one on-disc, although it's probably the strongest. "The Sun And Moon Roll Around Too Soon" is a perfect example of 21st Century Rock, from the simplistic but effective rhythm to the needlessly lengthy song title and "Get Yourself Free" could easily be a Bluesy B-side from a modern Aerosmith album, in a good way. However, despite transitioning into Temperance Movement 2.0 in both songwriting and musical tone, someone in the band still likes his Rock to be Classic.
"Magnify" has the upbeat footstomping feel of a 70's Rolling Stones track, "Battle Lines" inadvertently plagiarises a Dio title track from 1984 in both riff and structure (although I do like the song) and "Do The Revelation" closes the album on a positive note with some Funk Rock reminiscent of Lenny Kravitz, all tuned up and performed for the Spotify generation. Then there are the softer almost Indie/Alternative tracks such as the title track and "I Hope I'm Not Losing My Mind" that have no place on the album, presumably included to add a bit of variety OR land better with the kind of trendy blogging audience that listen to The Lumineers or Family Of The Year or some other Pitchfork wank-material.
If I had to focus on one negative trait, I'd say that White Bear decidedly vaults over the line separating Varied and Inconsistent. The album covers Hard Rock, Funk Rock, Modern Rock, Alternative Rock, Southern Rock, Blues Rock and bog standard Rock Rock, admittedly all done quite well although ultimately unnecessarily. Covering this many genres is something established bands or solo artists can get away with about a decade into their career when they're "experimenting" and trying to redefine themselves after their particular musical subgenre has died/is dying, not fresh new acts that have barely finished coning their first groupies.
Overall though, it's a good follow-up to their self-titled debut if you have a wider appreciation for Rock music old and new. Compared to albums like World On Fire - Slash or Dystopia - Megadeth that were made for fans of the respective Hard Rock and Metal genres, there's no specific classification or demographic for this album that can't be disputed. I guess if you're happy listening to anything with a strong rhythm and decent riffs, this album is probably for you but if you prefer more focused albums firmly belonging to just a couple of genres, you might enjoy a couple of tracks although it's unlikely you'll rate the album as a whole.
Speaking of rating, I'm giving it a 6/10. It's well recorded and fairly well written, if not a little plain at times, but it's also here a bit too soon. The cynical part of me that thinks this is the band's attempt at appealing to the festival-going crowd (possibly at the request of the producer) without wanting to alienate existing fans is overpowering the optimistic part of me that believes it's just the band trying a new flavour out. You might rate this album higher if you prefer modern sounding Rock but I like my Rock to Rock, which is what about 60% of this album does.
Whether or not The Temperance Movement will return to their rough-edged sound or go full-on Indie Folk for their third album is up in the air although if they release another White Bear, I doubt I'll lose any sleep.
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