Temples

Sun Structures (Heavenly)

The alluring jangle of a Byrds-like 12-string riff on “Shelter Song” opens the book on this UK psych-pop quartet in promising fashion. Even if stripped of its spot-on incantation of Sixties transistor bliss, the subtle backbeat, strategic hand percussion, and bucolic vocals would keep this sun-speckled earworm from losing its sizzle. The driving, echo-laden title track finds extra lift with a clever, fuzzed-out stutter step that connects the verses to the chorus. The tension then resolves in contrail-forming guitar acrobatics at the bridge against an insistent bassline. If only the whole of Sun Structures was this well-coiffed. Aside from bubblegum B-side doppelgänger “The Guesser,” the album’s second half gets weighed down with too many overlong songs that wander into the weeds. (Sat., 8:15pm, Reverberation Stage)

**.5

This article appears in May 2 • 2014.

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Greg Beets was born in Lubbock on the day Richard Nixon was elected president. He has covered music for the Chronicle since 1992, writing about everyone from Roky Erickson to Yanni. Beets has also written for Billboard,Uncut, Blurt, Elmore, and Pop Culture Press. Before his digestive tract cried uncle, he co-published Hey! Hey! Buffet!, an award-winning fanzine about all-you-can-eat buffets.