Temples at Pier 84

James Edward Bagshaw

Singer-guitarist James Edward Bagshaw and bassist Thomas Edward James Walmsley had played in a band called the Moons in their native Kettering, England. They recorded new music in a home studio in 2012. The duo uploaded four self-produced tracks to YouTube under the name Temples and then enlisted local drummer Samuel Lloyd Toms and keyboard player Adam Smith in order to form a band. Temples released a self-produced debut album, Sun Structures, on February 5, 2014. Fellow British rockers Johnny Marr and Noel Gallagher noted Temples as the best new band in Britain, and Gallagher criticized British radio stations for Temples' relative lack of airplay.

Temples closed the free outdoor River Rocks 2014 summer concert season at Pier 84 tonight. The four musicians came on stage wearing hairstyles and wardrobe similar to psychedelic pop stars from the mid-1960s, and the music closely resembled that sound as well. Using special effects on synthesizer and guitar, the band opened with the title track of the Sun Structures album, with Bagshaw singing light melodies and short lead guitar blasts between verses, building up to a lengthier solo towards the end of the song. And so it went for the rest of the 65-minute set (eight songs from the album plus two non-album B-sides) -- retro melodies and guitar sounds at the front of the band's experimental-prog-noise space jams. Temples did not simply copy a sound, however; Temples successfully introduced imaginative layers of freshness to a vintage sound. Temples' set was as picturesque as the Hudson River skyline behind the stage.

Temples will perform at Irving Plaza on October 27. In the meantime, visit Temples at www.templestheband.com.