Kicking On
Torche hit the spot quickly, sweetly and repeatedly over the forty minute running time of their fourth record Harmonicraft.
From the day-glo cover art to the short running time this record is built to deliver feelgood hits. Only one of the 13 songs breaks the four minute mark but they're all detailed; filled with lots of melodic interplay, catchy arrangements and the very least you can expect from the Floridian/Georgian rockers: swinging, heavy riffs.
Whereas in the past Torche had a tendency to drone on (literally) even on the widely acclaimed Meanderthal here they settle into the pocket of songs hitting the pop/rock sweet spot much sooner as witnessed by the closing riff of In Pieces and throughout the adrenaline fuelled siblings Walk It Off and Sky Trials. Songs that last no more than a typical sixties Motown 45, feel longer through the application of simple hooks, like the stoner-Battles blast of Snakes Are Charmed and the boneheaded joviality of Kicking.
Harmonicraft is a sugar tipped bullet of a record and Torche are experienced enough and so well-drilled that not a second is wasted. The sound is more streamlined than before drifting into Fu Manchu style good-times but they've not abandoned their old ways as tunes like Reverse Inverted, the wandering final third of Roaming and the wild-eyed yet disciplined title track attest. Torche continue to deliver glorious rock nuggets and to my mind this is their finest offering to date.