[Photos/Text by Andrew Parks; slideshow available here]
The last time we saw Torche open for someone, the flame-throwing power trio was still on Robotic Empire, CBGB’s was a few months away from closing, and The Sword was sitting pretty in the show’s headliner slot. Needless to say, we didn’t feel the need to stick around that night; not when Torche’s sludge-slinging jams left a sufficient ringing sensation in our ears and a Steve Brooks-ian smile across our otherwise jaded face.
Sorry Dredg, but the same circumstances kept us from sticking around for your prog-tastic set on Sunday night. To be fair, looming deadlines were partly to blame. But beyond that, it’s easy to say enough amp-impoding music is enough when it’s delivered in the lurching, lock-step doom/stoner rock/deviant pop hybrid that Torche has perfected over the past four years.
Speaking of, Torche’s well-oiled sound—Molasses City Mayhem straight out of, err, Miami—has gotten even gnarlier with Brooks’ ex-Floor-mate/fellow guitarist, Juan Monotya, out of the equation. We’re talking some serious highway to Hades shit, as epitomized by spot-on renditions of “Pirana,” “Sandstorm,” “Warship” and a particularly nasty “Amnesian.” There were others; we just have a hard time remembering titles when a set’s this blustery. Some photos survived, though …
3 Responses to “SUPPORT THIS: And This Week’s Must-See Opening Band Is … Torche, Shit-Eating Grins and All”
on May 23rd, 2009 at 11:51 pm #
[...] gonna be wrong no matter what. Shall we count the reasons why? Mastodon. Harvey Milk. Baroness. Torche (in part). Zoroaster. Withered. The list goes on, but it wouldn’t be complete without [...]
on July 24th, 2009 at 5:55 pm #
[...] finally, Torche will burn the Music Hall of Williamsburg down along with their Hydra Head mates/co-headliners [...]
on July 27th, 2009 at 10:06 am #
[...] we last saw Torche, they were upstaging dredg and throwing us off guard with new tracks. Four months later, we know [...]