Pitchfork

Let's start by clearing up that equivocal name: The answer is "tempo." Definitely tempo. Kinetic cadences are this young Berkeley band's biggest asset, and a youthfully hyperactive energy powers their self-released EP, The Get Down. What's interesting about the record is that there's nothing particularly interesting about it-- no nested mythology, no broadcasted back-story, no musicological innovation, no David Bowie hanging out at their shows. It's fresh-- as in "enthusiastic"-- but it's certainly not new, and at a time when blognoise and self-promotion tend to resonate longer and louder than the music they tangentially relate to, it's refreshing to hear a young band playing vigorous songs without too much hullabaloo about why and how they're doing it.

If I were Tempo No Tempo's publicist, I would have to say that they're blending their influences into something uniquely their own. But since I'm not, I can level with you-- Tempo No Tempo are blending their influences into something uniquely collective. This is only a crime if you subscribe to the view that there's such a thing as original art, although even the most cursory survey of human creation reveals a fertile history of borrowing, re-imagining, and outright theft. I prize innovation, but not to the detriment of the well-crafted artifact. The internet's endlessly expanding cultural record has ample room for both.

The Get Down's simple pleasures are a fine entry in the latter category, evoking Bloc Party and Q and Not U with its poppy dancepunk flavor. It's a jagged, melodious blast from start to finish, and it's marked by a sort of good-natured urgency. If it has rough edges and a certain ingenuous quality, these are mostly endearing, and it's a respectable first effort. "A Different Weapon" cranks up with a halting disco rhythm and a jumpy guitar melody; cheerful keyboard accents flesh it out and singer Tyler McCauley's throaty yelp sounds fit for mean karaoke renditions of Joy Division. "Plus the Wolf" evokes Thunderbirds are Now! with its jittery guitar whorls and synth sound effects, taking a more slantwise approach to the band's breakneck momentum than the defiantly linear "A Different Weapon". The sumptuous synth peals on "Static" are reminiscent of Maritime's, but Tempo No Tempo favors pummeling overdrive above that band's glittery updraft, although a touch of that emo-cum-new-wave sensibility manifests in the whirling siren-lights of "State of Emergency". In a world of broken molds, it's easy to forget about the pleasures of enthusiastic formalism; Tempo No Tempo are here to remind us.