The aroma of spilled beer filled the room as the sweat-infused bodies of fans congregated in anticipation for The Temper Trap to perform. With blue and red lights illuminating the room, the indie rock band stepped on stage, positioned their instruments and began to play.

The musicians roused fans on Oct. 15 at Popscene, a concert series put on every Thursday night by 330 Ritch.

The performance oozed soaring energy that kept concertgoers jumping and clapping throughout the set.

The first song of the night began with the instrumentals of "The Science of Fear," which got the crowd to sway to the rapid drumrolls and upbeat guitar riffs.

The Temper Trap, consisting of lead singer Dougy Mandagi, bass player Jonathon Aherne, lead guitarist Leorenzo Sillitto, second guitarist Joseph Greer and drummer Toby Dundas, was chosen by the British Broadcasting Company as one of the top 15 sounds of 2009.

The London-based band from Melbourne, Australia embarked on their first North American tour this past week, promoting their debut album, "Conditions," which came out Oct. 13, hoping to give fans a high-powered performance one show at a time.

"I want people to walk away and say, 'Man, that band has a lot of fun,'" said Dundas, as the band set up for the show that evening. "We're putting the energy between us, then into the songs and out to the crowed. It's really a great experience."

Mandagi, humbly confessed that he wants to be "remembered as a good band."

"Hopefully we can play half-decent shows for our fans," the lead singer said in a quiet tone.

As the night progressed, "Down River," a standout performance, was led by Mandagi and supported by the group's two guitarists and bass player.

With this chant-like song pulsating throughout the room, the energy of the audience grew, and fists of the crowed pumped as bodies jumped. With the sound of the song building, the band lined up and sang repeatedly, "Don't, don't stop! Don't, don't stop!" as the song came to a climactic end.

Pete Birones, a San Franciscan, never listened to the Temper Trap before last Wednesday, but was pleasantly surprised by their performance.

"I'm more of a hip-hop head myself, but it was fun -- I liked it," the 20-year-old said. "There was a lot of energy throughout the show, so I would definitely listen to them again."

Though playing in San Francisco was a first for the melodic indie rock band, many fans came because they heard the infectiously catchy song, "Sweet Disposition" in the movie "(500) Days of Summer," which debuted in July of this year.

"I got the '(500) Days of Summer' soundtrack and heard their song and thought it was amazing," said Danielle Mannfield, 24, who discovered the band a few months ago.

The Temper Trap's fan base, according to Dundas, grew "immensely" since the release of the movie, which helped them promote the rest of their album as they travel the United States -- along with a worldwide tour.

"It was a really huge opportunity, and it definitely opened a lot of doors for us here in America," said Dundas, as he made no attempt to hide his excitement.

"Conditions," an album of large, earth-shattering crescendos, soulful vocals and strong, danceable drumbeats, was created to showcase the band's versatility.

"We wanted a lot of diversity through the album," Dundas said. "We felt that we couldn't have too much or it would be too fragmented and it wouldn't be an album, but rather 10 songs chopped together."

Although creating the album was a collective process, the work that went into constructing it wasn't easy or effortless.

Their producer, Jim Abbiss, who worked with the Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian, was living in the United Kingdom while the Temper Trap was in Melbourne. Many meetings were canceled throughout the album-making process, which ultimately took a year to finish.

In the end, the band created a compilation of songs that they felt represented the complexity of their sound.

As they travel from state to state and win over audiences with their heart-pounding performances, they also try to take advantage of the little downtime they have while on the road.

"We've been watching the first season of 'The Wire' and playing Xbox a lot to pass the time," said, Mandagi as he cracked a smile. "Our days consist of driving in a van all day and trying to get to bed early and not party too much."

With nine cities for the Temper Trap to visit during the North American tour, coming to San Francisco was high on the list.

"I was probably most excited about coming to San Francisco," Dundas gushed. "We saw Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. I've always wanted to come here, but you really can't do anything but the touristy stuff and just scratch the surface."

The Temper Trap's North American tour continues until Oct. 29 and wraps up in Boston, where they will continue their trek through Europe for the remainder of the year.