Torche "Songs for Singles"

In the spirit of the release, I`m going to try to keep this short:

Torche songs are so easy to get excited about, because they`re actually exciting. They`re upbeat, energetic, accessible, friendly-sounding even at their heaviest. I just popped their new offering, Songs for Singles in my player for the first time, and already, I want to hang out with it. I want to sit with it and have a beer and watch the bug zapper. Eight songs in under 22 minutes isn`t the kind of numbers I usually get down with, but man, Torche kick ass with twice the efficiency of most bands.

What I like most immediately about Songs for Singles is that the first six tracks comprise half the listening time, and the last two make up the final 10-plus minutes. You`re through "U.F.O." before you know it, and "Lay Low" is only 51 seconds long, so that`s barely started before it`s done, but "Shine on My Old Ways" seems to change the pace, and by the time "Face the Wall" comes on, you feel like you just hit it. The wall, that is.

If you dug the dreamy pop aspects of Meanderthal, you`re probably also going to drool over Songs for Singles, as even on the slower "Face the Wall" and six-minute capper "Out Again," that element of their sound is a constant. There aren`t any über-heavy guitar bombs, and as "Out Again" stretches the instrumental section that gradually fades to close the record, it`s apparent that what Torche like playing with in their sound is the sometimes massive, sometimes sweet contrast. Right now, they`re doing it better than anyone else.