Temps - Party Gator Purgatory - The Singles, Reviewed

Temps - Party Gator Purgatory - The Singles, Reviewed

Over the last decade or so, James Acaster has established himself as one of the most absurd, unique, and best loved stand up comics in the world, with his stand-up Netflix series ‘Repertoire’, as well as his subsequent special, ‘Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999’, in which he discusses “the worst year of his life”: 2017. Arguably the main result of that year is that James began to obsessively buy music from the previous year, and subsequently set out on a quest to prove why 2016 is the greatest year for music of all time. He wrote a book about it, presents a podcast about it, and now has managed to turn it into a musical side project called Temps. Pulling on the talents of many of the artists he discovered in his escapades, the idea is that Acaster sends each collaborator a basic drum backing track, giving them free reign to put whatever on top, after which Acaster would edit these contributions together into a sort of musical collage, the notion of genres all but forgotten. An interesting idea no doubt, and with a brand new album, ‘Party Gator Purgatory’ set for release on May 19th, I was chomping at the bit to take a look at the singles. By the way, this article will of course be subject to updates should more singles be released.

no,no (Ft. Quelle Chris, Xenia Rubinos, NNAMDÏ, Shamir)

This first single, as well as showcasing Acaster’s drumming talent, also features performances from Quelle Chris, Xenia Rubinos, NNAMDÏ and Shamir, as well as further contributions from vocalist Joana Gomila, and instrumentalists John Dieterich, Laia Vallès and Seb Rochford. Based on a brilliant drum and bass groove that seems to pull stylistically from the worlds of Caribbean and African music to great effect, Acaster and Co. then use this as a canvas atop which all kinds of strange sounds are splayed, including touches of quirky synths, ethereal atmospheres, strings and surf rock guitars. That might sound like a bit of a hodge-podge, and kind of is, but it actually manages to come together in quite an impressive way. Of course the main focal point is the vocals, and I’m happy to say they don’t disappoint. Despite all having varied and distinctive vocal styles, it’s impressive how cohesive the lyrics are, dealing with the difficulty of maintaining optimism and sanity as life trudges on in its various facets. Very compelling indeed. As for the vocalists themselves, they each bring their own unique flair to the track, and it goes over a treat. Quelle Chris’ cool, laidback delivery and infectious sung portions, Xenia Rubinos’ angelic melodies and confident, urgent raps, NNAMDÏ’s effortlessly sung rhymes and Shamir’s unorthodox yet characterful crooning on the back end. The hook provided by Joana Gomila acting as a motif throughout also has a very naive yet chilled and incredibly catchy vibe that does it the world of favours. A great variety of talented vocalists that come together brilliantly. A comparison to other brilliant rap groups such as Brockhampton, Odd Future or Wu-Tang wouldn’t go amiss. There are a few minor criticisms, like the vocal modulations on the bridge being slightly wince inducing, or the nearly minute long outro not really being all that necessary, but overall still very strong.

ificouldjust (Ft. Yoni Wolf, Quelle Chris, Shamir, Montaigne, Ami Dang)

There are again quite a few recurring names here, and so it’s not a surprise that this ended up being pretty bloody good, a little more abstract sure, but still good. Instrumentally there’s a ton going on here. Gurgly and bleepy synth effects, chimes, sitars (courtesy of Ami Dang) and scattershot, sometimes distorted drum beats make up the first part, and admittedly, how disconnected some of it can feel makes it a bit difficult for me to get into, but there are still very cool, sour, psychedelic melodies coming through throughout here, and the parts with a steadier beat are certainly a positive in my book. The transition to a more galloping Tom and snare beat around halfway through complimented by various chimes and effects from earlier is a very cool change, as is the change yet again in the outro where the same frenetic playing style is given an extra bombasity. It’s pretty mind bending all round. The vocalists again bring their A-game. The majority of the track is handled by Yoni Wolf, whose slightly more monotone delivery is offset by an impressive knack for wordsmithery that gives an impressive of someone very well read and linguistically creative, as he very cleverly overlays what seems to be the track’s central message of yearning for a youthful recklessness, either that or a search for inspiration. Although Quelle’s verse is short, his rapid fire delivery, truckloads of personality, and ability to effortlessly ride the oddest of beats still manages to make him a stand out. Incidentally, Shamir also shines quite bright here too. Taking a spot on the more minimal drumless bridge section, her graceful, elegant, yet subtly melancholic vocals are very compelling indeed, and makes this easily the best of her three features we’ve heard so far. Given how brilliant her performance on single #3 was, it’s no surprise Montaigne’s sung outro was brilliant here too, with the sense of exuberance and urgency it possesses being incredibly infectious, not to mention of course the melodies are fantastic. The only vocal skirmish on this track for me would be that, as cool as her sitar contributions are, Ami Dang’s wordless vocalisations feel a bit inconsequential and a little odd at points. When all is said and done though, while it may be the least accessible track so far, it still does a hell of a lot of stuff right, which is all the more testament to the abilities of those involved.

Bleedthemtoxins (Ft. Joana Gomila, NNAMDÏ, Shamir, Quelle Chris)

This second single utilises the same cast as the previous single, minus Xenia Rubinos (additional instrumentalists I’m not sure), and unsurprisingly it goes over a treat, mostly. The track seems to be split into two halves. The first half, while being instrumentally very sparse, and resultantly sometimes feeling quite meandering and barren, there are some great ideas here. The thick double bass and layers of atmospheric and quiet guitars sound really nice, especially when paired with Joana’s sour and lo-fi, yet melodic and intriguing delivery and offbeat vocalisations. This is followed by some autotuned vocal layers courtesy of NNAMDÏ that sound absolutely amazing and almost angelic. Then, his subsequent rap verse is brilliant, delivered over tranquil atmospheres with a very authoritative, commanding delivery, and some great lyrics, revolving around the track’s central theme of living with and being fearless of your mistakes, it’s almost wholesome, and of course there’s some nice fantastical imagery in there too. So while the first half certainly wasn’t perfect, it was pretty bloody good, and it only gets better from here. The second half is much more vibrant, with Acaster’s lolloping yet vibrant and textured percussive grooves laid beneath bright, characterful layers of horns. Shamir's melodic passages over this part works brilliantly to say the least, and Quelle Chris' guest verse is pretty great too, featuring a fantastic lyrical and vocal interplay between two of his own vocal tracks delivered over a nice, if overly minimal rhythm track, as he questions exactly how to go about the embracing of flaws the track preaches, and asks if he could go back to correct his mistakes, to which at the other voice responds “if you still you how could you do what you couldn’t do?” It’s all very well done. My only main criticism of this second half is that Joana’s contributions that bookend this section seem to be integrated in quite a brash and clumsy way. Still though, despite its flaws, this is still an incredibly intriguing, offbeat, colourful, and ultimately very enjoyable piece of experimental hip-hop.

partygatorresurrection (Ft. Open Mike Eagle, me oh myriorama, Montaigne, Low Growl, bb tombo)

The one word that can sum up this track for me is fun. I think this track is super fun. Acaster’s drum groove is funky and tight as hell which anchors all of the vocals perfectly, whether sung, spoken or rapped, with some really nice percussive textures. Sounds almost like a cross between hip-hop and Brazilian carnival music with just how big some of the grooves are. It sounds amazing. It’s also interesting to consider how, aside from the brilliantly dreamlike and kooky contributions of electric pianos, synths, and guitar from bb tombo in the outro, the drums are the only instrument here, which when you think about it is a very impressive exercise in minimalism. Of course what that means is that the vocalists have some heavy lifting to do between them, and god do they deliver. Aside from the monotone and lyrically repetitive spoken contributions of Low Growl, which while initially intriguing, do wear out their welcome after a while, I think everyone else does great. As soon as I saw his name on the feature list, I knew Open Mike Eagle was gonna be a slam dunk without a doubt, and I was right, as he delivers brilliantly vivid lyrics and wordplay with a confident, laid back, yet subtly animated delivery and flow in both the verse and outro. While the lyrics are a little inscrutable (or at least they will be until they’re published), the themes of anxiety, confusion and fish-out-of-water I caught Mike’s verse also translate well coming from me oh myriorama. Not only is the imagery of the “albatross on his shoulders” among others very well put across, but his boyish, slightly strained, half-sung, half-rapped delivery is highly entertaining and unique. For me though, the real star of the show is Australian singer Montaigne. Not only does she deliver a deceptively catchy refrain, but her layered and harmonised vocal sections at parts in the track sound absolutely incredible, and I’d even argue that her contributions are the best thing I’ve heard from Temps thus far, although there’s some stiff competition. So, while one of the features isn’t great, luckily it’s presence is relatively minimal, and every other element of the track, musical and vocal goes over without a hitch, and so resultantly is a ton of fun to listen to.

As far as album expectations go, if the project continues to deliver music of this quality, we could well be looking at one of the most unique, creative, boldly experimental and kaleidoscopic albums of the year. I think if I had to put it one way, James has essentially managed to recreate the eccentric and wonderfully offbeat, freewheeling qualities that made his stand-up so enjoyable in musical form, and I’m here for it.