TORCHE ARE ALIVE AND “KICKING” WITH NEW SONG

“Stoner pop” quartet Torche have a new record coming out in April via new label home Volcom, and hard as it is to believe it’s their first full-length since 2008’s infectious Meanderthal turned the metal world over onto its happy head. Hydra Head released the Songs for Singles EP in 2010, originally recorded as a full album, but for whatever reason the band decided to chop a few tracks off and keep things shorter. Will Harmonicraft, out April 24th, feature some of those axed songs or is it comprised of entirely new material? Can’t say as we know.

If new song “Kicking” — available for stream and download via Pitchfork — is any indication, Harmonicraft is the logical successor to Meanderthal, suggesting that perhaps it was a sonic difference that prompted the band to separate Songs for Singles from their full-lengths with a different album format designation. This song is why you love Torche, and it’s all here: fuzzed-out stoner bass, spacey, glimmery guitars, soaring major key choruses and Steve Brooks’ unmistakable voice.

Harmonicraft was produced by the band and mixed by one Kurt Ballou, and it’s the first Torche album to feature new guitarist Andrew Elstner (Juan Montoya left prior to Songs for Singles but the group carried on as a three-piece). Get it April 24th.

-VN