RELAX AND ENJOY, SEE A MOVIE

members, works out of London, but originated from Australia where they are the top group of the moment.

The Temper Trap is made up of Lorenzo Silletto on lead guitar; Joseph Greer, keyboards and guitar; Jonathon Aherne, bass; Toby Dundas, drums; and Dougy Mandagi, vocals. Everybody does a great job making soaring rock music to scream to but it is Mandagi’s wide-ranging, graceful and passionate tones that set the band apart. This guy is at par with the great rock vocalists and the new CD shows him at his best.

I see no Sweet Disposition in the album. This one is more epic in approach and the band’s increased musicality is in evidence throughout. Need Your Love is the first single release but the best of the lot is Trembling Hands, which has the makings of a rock classic. Also included in the all-original line-up composed by Temper Trap are London’s Burning, The Sea Is Calling, Miracle, This Isn’t Happiness, Where Do We Go From Here, Never Again, Dreams, Rabbit Hole, I’m Gonna Wait and Leaving Heartbreak Hotel.

Hello by Karmin. How nice to hear from this group again. I am sure that a lot of you are familiar with Karmin. This is the duo made up of Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan, whose song Crash Your Party, a new take on the theme of You’re So Vain lifted them out of the indie set. Now signed to the Epic label, its new album Hello is generating a lot of buzz with its potential for several hit singles.

Karmin started out recording covers of current hits and then putting videos out in YouTube. It got the jackpot in the viral universe when it did Look At Me Now by Chris Brown, which, with over 200 million hits, to this day is still one of the most viewed videos of all time. Public reaction towards Karmin was so positive, that it was named the New Media honoree at both the American Music Awards and the Web Born Star at the MTV O Music Awards last year. It is once more up for trophies at the Teen Choice Awards this week.

An appealing mix of pop, dance and hip-hop, Hello already has one biggie out, the hook-filled Brokenhearted. Expected to follow next is I Told You So. Then there are Walking On The Moon, Too Many Fish, I’m Just Sayin’, Coming Up Strong and Hello. Take note that these songs are all originals composed by Nick and Amy and other collaborators. No more covers for these guys.