Pitchfork

Berkeley's Tempo No Tempo brew the kind of steaming caffeine-punk I never get tired of when it's well-prepared, but then, I drink way too much coffee. The ironically titled "Static" can't sit still for an instant, tweaking hard on a multi-varietal cup, beans blended from the heavily farmed growing regions of Thunderbirds are Now!, Gang of Four, and Q and Not U. Yeah, it's dance-post-punk all over again, but you know you still crave it.

Like good baristas, Tempo No Tempo pull their shots hard and fast to deliver a compact and effective dosage. Ripe synth peals careen into a driving guitar blur and galloping bass (instantly establishing the track as an even jauntier version of Maritime's "Tearing Up the Oxygen"). It's all about momentum from here, an on-rails yet perilously teetering shimmy, guitars bombing down straightaways or slashing through laddering vocals. "Nothing's going to change," Tyler McCauley howls. S'cool; ain't broke.