 | Tracklist:
1.U.F.O.
2.Lay Low
3.Hideaway
4.Arrowhead
5.Shine On My Old Ways
6.Cast Into Unknown
7.Face the Wall
8.Out Again
Release Date: 2010 | |
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On 28 Lists
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| Summary: Heaviest pop album of 2010. |
3 of 4 thought this review was well written
Since Torche's beginnings on their self titled 2005 release, the band's style has remained a somewhat difficult one to pin down. While tracks like Charge of the Brown Recluse, Tarpit Carnivore, and the title track from 2008's Meanderthal, all including the band's now infamous use of the "bomb string" (look it up if you're a bit lost), lend themselves to a sort of sludge metal/stoner rock hybrid, more upbeat tracks like Healer, Accross the Shields, and In Return have earned the band their slightly sarcastic "stoner pop" label. This dichotomy within the band's sound has provided a refreshing balance within their past three releases, but the formula has been tweaked ever so slightly for this year's Songs for Singles.
The album is really composed of two separate entities, the first being tracks one through six, and the second being tracks seven and eight, with both groups taking up about the same amount of play time. The first six tracks take the riff heavy, detuned catchiness of Meanderthal, and up the catchiness factor by about 20. Album opener U.F.O features one of the more infectious guitar leads I've heard all year, follow up track Lay Low is 52 seconds of non stop, thick as molasses riffing broken up about midway through by an incredibly low thud, and album highlight Arrowhead manages to pound away in fury without ever loosing it's fun factor. Still, as impressively well put together as the songs are musically, everything would more than likely fall apart without Steve Brooks's voice to tie it all together. From the languid crooning in U.F.O. that floats through the track in just the right part of the mix, to the more urgent shouts of Lay Low and the "woah-oh-oh"s of Hideaway, the vocals really elevate the tracks to a higher level. After six songs of thunderous riffing and pounding drums, the album shifts tempos drastically into the four and a half minute Face the Wall, featuring rolling drumbeats, and thick, reverb laden guitars, with the sound thinning out a little bit for the laid back, six minute Out Again. In it's own right, Out Again is a pretty great song, but it is just a little bit hard to digest coming right after the first six tracks, even with the buffer of Face the Wall in between.
Basically, the bulk of the material contained within Songs for Singles sounds just like the title implies it would; brief, streamlined, and intensely catchy, yet it still retains a good bit of the pounding, detuned madness that Torche has come to be known for. You can call it an EP, LP, micro-album, maxi-single, stop-gap, or whatever else you can think of, but the fact remains that Songs for Singles is, and probably will remain the best "heavy pop" album of 2010.
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| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
Album Rating: 4
Sup guys, see you in another 11 months.
Seriously though, review contains about a years worth of rust.
Also, album is still streaming on www.myspace.com/torche
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OMG BRENT!
Digging: Love American - Disquiet Digging: Love American - Disquiet
| | | Album Rating: 4
inorite
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well looks like i should get this
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
"stoner pop"
I'm afraid to listen to this.
| | | Album Rating: 4
It's a silly label that's just been thrown around way too much...fancy way of saying it's infectious and it happens to be in drop A.
| | | Album Rating: 3
meanderthal was the shit yo
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awww shit, look who it is!
Digging: Candlemass - Psalms For The Dead Digging: Candlemass - Psalms For The Dead
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Alright, this wasn't as bizzare as I thought it would it be, and yes it was pretty infectious.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Band is so much fun.
Digging: Carissa's Wierd - Songs About Leaving | | |
I like giving tips to Sputnik newbies, so here goes... Oh, hang on a tick.
Holy BS sighting. How have things been mate?
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i want this i want this i want it
Digging: Bjork - Vespertine Digging: Bjork - Vespertine
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Nice review, man. Convinced me to check this out.
Digging: Addaura - Burning for the Ancient Digging: Addaura - Burning for the Ancient
| | | Album Rating: 4
Sup Davey. College just took over my life for about a year haha...being a part of a music program on a university level is pretty all consuming, but I got out of that haha.
Ire: get it get it get it or stream it stream it stream it.
| | | Album Rating: 4
Great review buddy. Can't fucking wait to hear this.
Digging: Vaura - Selenelion Digging: Vaura - Selenelion | | |
holy shitting fuckstains ITS BRENT!!!
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
is this better than meanderthal?
| | | Album Rating: 4
Not better than Meanderthal, but then again, it's not a full release either...definitely check it out though.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
you're confusing me a bit, I'm just wondering about overall quality...sounds like catchier which is cool and i'll inevitably listen anyway so........
edit: oh yeah, you're the guy who actually describes the music in a way that helps the reader conjure up what the music may sound like, awesome
| | | Album Rating: 4
I'm just saying it's hard to compare quality between a full length album like Meanderthal and what basically amounts to an EP in this. It's basically Meanderthal's more condensed, catchier moments made into even more condensed, catchier songs...with two slower tracks at the end.
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