The resurgence of garage/dirty/real rock bands in the last year or two has been a breath of fresh air for some (namely, people who only listen to the radio and the stuff they're fed by major labels) and a real pain in the booty for others. The Vines (terrible band), The Hives (overconfident and strictly average band), The White Stripes (Meg, dump your boyfriend and go out with me), The Strokes (dump Drew Fab, and love me instead), and a whole host of others have ridden the "comeback" to emerge as the supposed saviors of rock.
Of course we all knew rock wasn't dead, but alive and well thanks to many bands around today, including The Flaming Lips, Converge, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Fugazi, etc. I would add one more to that list of our age's authentic rock and rollers -- a young group of men from Minnesota named Tora! Tora! Torrance!.
Sharing more in common with the "The" groups from the first paragraph than the collection of musicians I just mentioned, Tora! Tora! Torrance!'s Get Into It could be accused (or praised, depending on your outlook) of aping The Stooges, Television, The MC5, Sonics and the like. Their guitars are messy, and the vocals are 100% anti-establishment. The one element of Tora! Tora! Torrance! that most critics, or fans for that matter, mention as the band's weakness are the vocals, but I would say that Nick Koenig's pipes are the strong, defining part of the Tora! Tora! Torrance! sound.
Koenig's vocals sound similar to Jack White's (if White pounded mounds of speed before each performance while simultaneously sucking down at least 10 helium balloons). This sounds great in theory, but some would say that it really sounds like crap and I agreed at first. But then I had to give Koenig high marks for originality. In the end, Koenig's energy and pure "fly by the seat of his pants" charisma really drew me in (after several listens) and had me saying "yes Lord." So give Tora! Tora! Torrance! a try, and long live the Rock.
Other coverage for this album
Decapolis January 2003Reviewed by Nate BaileyFrom Minnesota, TTT has been around since 2000. They are signed with The Militia Group. TTT's sound is equal parts early Brit punk, and garage rock. The songs on "Get Into It" are led by snotty vocals and diverging guitar rhythms. There are fast and slow elements within each song presented here. When the tempo is quick paced it's at least somewhat interesting because of the energy, however when…Similar sounding releases
1999For Love Not LisaThe Lost Elephant
1996Aunt BettysAunt Bettys
2002The LineMonsters We Breed
1995PlankeyeThe Spark
2001Stavesacre / Denison MarrsStavesacre / Denison Marrs
1997Kosmos ExpressNow
