In 2009, The Temper Trap went from nowhere to everywhere quicker than swine flu. On the back of some bold choruses and the festival song of the summer, the Melbourne boys became the band of the moment, harnessing the right sound for the right time.

Three years on and the quintet have returned with The Temper Trap, Need Your Love opening proceedings with thick synths and nodding rhythms. It's an able first track that moves in all the right places and seems like a natural extension of the band's Conditions work. London Burning follows, offering probably the most stimulating and creative four minutes on the album; the chanted back-up vocals, the creepy plucking guitar – it all pushes forcefully to a rousing crescendo. However, there is just something rather insincere about sampling disenchanted youths and then trying to spin it into a commercial hit. And The Temper Trap are not Pink Floyd.

The tunes are still very much centred around the transcending falsetto of Dougy Mandagi, which is fine – it's the band's ace card and signature. But the music supporting his lovelorn lyrics just doesn't hold up consistently enough. There are some real engaging moments of aquatic wash, Miracle especially abuzz with gorgeous production work. But the pedestrian finish to this self-titled release simply unravels any solid work that was placed within the first half of the album. The Temper Trap is flush full of grand ideas, but the execution is lethargic, the sound already spent. Oh, and a warning: if you're specifically spinning this album to hear anything resembling Sweet Disposition part two, prepare to be disappointed.