The Trouble With Templeton look inward on Someday, Buddy

Thomas Calder’s voice, which has a way of sounding breathy and hushed even at full exertion, and his songwriting talent remain at the fore. The band, though -- including bassist Sam Pankhurst, drummer Ritchie Daniell, and guitarist Jack Richardson -- have tightened as a collaborative unit, as evidenced here by how much space they feel comfortable giving to one another. Someday, Buddy, is an album of quiet lead-ins; some which lead to cymbal splashing choruses, and others that never hit the volume pedal.

There is no other era that would have produced its synthesis of influences, but one can easily imagine the major label bidding war that might have ensued if this album had arrived somewhere in the two year span from Travis’ The Man Who, to Coldplay’s Parachutes, to Turin Brakes’ The Optimist. Someday, Buddy girds the earnest and introspective vibe of those three post-Britpop staples with a Wowee Zowee looseness between the notes. It would have made lovely Buzz Bin balm for the pain inflicted by nu metal back in the day, but it can still cure what ails your ears now.

Someday, Buddy doesn’t shy away from its own big moments, but it does have a way of deflecting attention from them. There are loud, rousing hooks on “Sailor”, “Bad Mistake”, “Complex Lips”, “Vernon” and others, but The Trouble With Templeton aren’t in such a hurry to get to them, which affords them the opportunity to make more gradual, deeper impressions.