TEMPO HOUSE consists of Zac Grunter and Ronald Langford, both based out of Oakland, California. Their new cassette, Sketches, was just released on their own Digital Regress label in a modest run of 50 tapes.
Langford has crossed our radar before as a member of the fuzz-punk outfit Bicycle Day. This new project takes a completely different angle from Bicycle Day, trading in glinting, sun-drenched guitars for dark, sultry goth vibes with a focus on minimalism and repetition. Vaporous vocals and tight, muffled guitars all sound veiled by a thick layer of smoke, slithering along slowly and cautiously as if you were tip-toeing through a cool, moonlit night. “Knowledge by Acquaintance” is driven by a thin, skeleton-like rhythm and righteously tinny guitars, coming off like frail and malnourished pop yet still delivering a brooding squall. “Burning Airlines Give You So Much More” (a cover of a Brian Eno track) unfolds with the timely crunch of the guitar, sounding like metal clanging against metal as the snare drum barely holds the rhythm down. Deep below there’s a nearly undetectable buzz, creating a sticky atmosphere that coats everything in tar. In the final minute the track suddenly jumps forward with a sprightly pop edge. Tangled and scratchy guitars set the pace in “Underground,” boasting layers of gooey synths paired with a stringy guitar solo. Listen to these few songs from the cassette right now and grab one before they’re long gone!
Genre/ Tags: Post-Punk, Minimal, Pop
Sketches CS: Tracklist:
1.) Determined
2.) Knowledge by Acquaintance
3.) Discomfort
4.) Burning Airlines Give You So Much More (Brian Eno)
5.) Regression
6.) Underground
7.) Seeking Guidance
BUY the CS from Digital Regress – limited to 50 pieces
Tempo House on Bandcamp
Styrofoam Drone 