THE CHEMISTRY IS STILL ALIVE FOR TEMPLETON PEK ON BELATED SIXTH ALBUM

ALBUM REVIEW | TEMPLETON PEK – SAVAGES by Craig Harston

Seven years. That’s how long it’s been since Birmingham punk rock trio Templeton Pek last unleashed new music on the world, with 2018’s excellent ‘Watching The World Come Undone’. Known for their high energy live shows and unapologetic melodic punk songs, Neal Mitchell (vocals and bass), Kev Green (guitar) and Jon Keen (drums) have been lucky enough to share the stage with many of their heroes, including Bad Religion, Millencolin and Sum 41 as well as frequenting festivals such as Slam Dunk, Rebellion and Brakrock across the UK and mainland Europe . ‘Savages’, their sixth studio album, is not only highly anticipated after such a long gap but is an evolution of Templeton Pek’s sound as they chart darker territory within the current political landscape, featuring a heavier approach while not losing their signature hooks and melodic sound.

Title track ‘Savages’ delivers a strong start to the album as Mitchell’s pissed off vocals lament how hard it is to stay human (“We’re more than savages”) while Green delivers some brilliant riffs throughout. ‘Hurricanes’ is a powerful tune about finding the strength to move on (“The cards are stacked against you, but still we find a way”), with Keen demonstrating some immensely tight drums throughout and the song bursts back into life after a melancholic bridge, hurtling towards it’s close. Kicking off with some dirty guitar, ‘Paradigm’ is a relentless and brutal song featuring some great gang vocals on the choruses, heavy intruments across the bridge and an excellent refrain of “Last one standing” (it’s a little bit ‘4ft Fingers’) as Templeton Pek contemplate hoping for the best in a world gone mad!

‘Artifact’, meanwhile, features a mildly industrial sound, ‘Print Is Dead’ shows Templeton Pek are masters of the ‘fast, slow, fast, slow’ structure in their songwriting, includes a truly excellent bassline from Mitchell on the bridge and it’s lyrics put focus on not letting the man grind you down (“They’re watching you”) while ‘Ghosts’ finds the band channelling Strung Out a little as it’s guitar riffs take on a metallic edge without compromising their melodic sound and thunders towards it’s conclusion following some floaty guitar on the bridge. Elsewhere, ‘Perfect Storm’ captures that tried and tested Templeton Pek sound, featuring a buzzy guitar riff, plenty of woahs and a great melody throughout, ‘Reviver’ documents the difficulties of recovering from a tragedy – it’s slower in places but is fast as fuck on the choruses – and the closer ‘Tempest’ kicks right in with a superb punky riff, thundering drums and ends the album in a way Templeton Pek hopefully mean to go on – seeing the world as it is and tackling real issues one song at a time!

The easy standout on the album is latest single ‘No Kings’ – a blistering takedown on how those in charge aren’t exactly the best people to be telling others what to do (“Who died and made you god?”). It goes huge on it’s choruses, the intruments come together perfectly and the whole thing builds to a crescendo before ending with the chanting of the title. It’s powerful stuff!

So, Templeton Pek are back and may have produced their most accomplished album to date – they seem more self-assured than ever with the chemistry between the trio shining through on the songs on offer, demonstrating how solid their songwriting is and how well they still gel as a band after so long away from the studio – there are no cobwebs here!