Meanderthal Demos
P’s Take
Brother T introduced me to Torche, one day, played their dopely packaged album while we were working on the FSS. I thought they were alright, progressive-type metal stuff. Pretty good, but I wasn’t interested enough to wanna copy it or anything. So when it came time for an FSS trip in to the city on a Sunday night I wasn’t real down. At all. But I went, ‘cuz thats the type of guy I am.
The venue was really swanky and the crowd was glasses heavy. Everyone in there was a Lens Crafter junkie, not that I’m down on the nearsighted, I myself wear glasses like a motherfucker, I’m just describing the crowd. It didn’t look at all promising and I was fully expecting to be dying to get the hell out of there after five minutes. I was dead wrong.
Torche took the stage, tuned up a bit, the drummer took his shirt off and they straight blew the place up. They are the powerfullest power trio I ever saw in my life. They’re like Husker Du crossed with a horde of Vikings. The singer/guitarist lead the band with head nods like James Brown used to through a set so percussive I could actually feel my hair being blown back. The three of them work together like special forces team, there was no note, no beat out of line. The drummer drummed like animal at one point actually jumping up from the stool to bring his full weight down into the strikes. It was insane. And for all the brutality of their sound there is more than a hint of complicated melody running through their songs. They were absolutely one of the finest bands I have ever seen live. And they were selling the demo for their last album on tape. Hell yeah.
T’s Take:
Sunday night shows are tough when you have a job that requires getting up at 4:30am on a Monday. You spend most of the day resisting the temptation of letting the tickets go to waste in exchange for sleep. I’d seen Torche once before, opening for The Sword in Brooklyn, and they owned. But since then they’d lost their second guitarist to creative differences and I will admit this scared me somewhat as Brother P and I drove into Manhattan to see them play the Highline Ballroom. If a band gives anything less than a stellar performance on a Sunday night show you curse them the entire ride home. Torche would not be cursed. In fact they’d put me on such a high that it would carry me though my early morning wakeup on Monday with a big grin, knowing my weekend was not wasted in the least.
Brother P and I avoided a wealth of tunnel traffic and took the backstreets of Jersey City with great success. Our fortune continued as we found free street parking less than a half a block away from the club. When we entered the opening act had just finished and Torche was setting up their gear. So far things couldn’t have gone any better. Before their set I hit up the merch table and picked up a collection of their Meanderthal demos on cassette. A bright yellow cassette and a limited run of 200 copies… as noted in my review of their Healer 12”, this band knows the importance of packaging and analog (two things FSS holds dear).
Torche would open that night for Dredj. We were there for Torche alone and I think it’s safe to say that after they finished everyone else was too. They’re that kind of band that just makes you an instant fan even if you’ve never heard them before. Very few acts can do this. I’ve been to hundreds of shows and am hard-pressed to think of more than a handful. I’d played them a few times for P and it’s just not the same as seeing them. Their live act is like a force of nature. An avalanche, a hurricane. Even down one guitarist they’re sound was a brutal assault on the senses. I can honestly say that they are my favorite live act around right now and that’s no easy feat. They don’t fuck around. The melt faces.
From start to finish their act was perfection. Their drummer, Rick Smith, is insane on the kit. I’ve seen nothing like it before or since. Sticking his tongue out like George the Animal Steele and pounding his instrument with every single ounce of strength he possesses, was truly a sight to behold. At one point he was actually jumping off his throne and slamming his entire weight back down on the cymbals. I can still hear that sound. Rounding out their rhythm section on bass was Jon Nunez who likewise played like a man possessed. Rick and Jon provided the backbone to some of the most intense jamming I’ve ever seen by a live act. Their playing of the songs live injected so much new life into the studio cuts it was criminal.
The most unique thing about Torche is the way Singer/Guitarist Steve Brooks injects melody into mayhem. His guitar solos were the real deal. No cheese. No bullshit. Just pure rock fury.
Torche remind me of what I picture early Black Flag shows being like. Not in terms of sound but in more in the way of a group of young men going across the country from city to city and leaving craters where clubs used to be. If you haven’t seen them you’re doing yourself a disservice. In the meantime pick up any of their music and crank it up to eleven. At least you’ll be able to experience 1/100th of their live show.
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