Torcher

Your Word Against Fire (Tim/Kerr)
by Steve Tremain

I like an album that you have to listen to more than once to get the feel of. Most CDs are made for easy consumption, so you know exactly what’s going on before you even hit play. But some LPs have buried nuances and as many layers as an onion. Case in point, Torcher. At first glance, it’s another woman-fronted mellow/aggressive rock band. But when you strip away the layers on their new release Your Word Against Fire (Tim Kerr), you see that the music isn’t entirely focused around Paula Keyth. It’s about the entire band. Kevin Friedman’s guitar makes all of these fascinating sounds, going head to head against Paula’s vocals, intense and focused. Add Christopher Douglas turning the beat around, playing almost melodically, and the whole album just takes off. Your Word Against Fire has a brooding feel, darkly underscoring lines like “Five scars across my face/Ten scars across my heart/Will I be mended/Will I learn to fly away?” Even when they rock out, turning up the volume and speed, they still keep their complexity, shifting and sifting through your fingers. The feedback doesn’t sound like noise, it sounds like some crazed sax. It waltzes with Paula’s voice on songs like “Slug,” a perfect blend of enigma and force, where nothing and everything is said, while on “Weightless,” the sounds just float by, skimming the surface of your mind, drifting gently along, always picking at the scabs on your heart. Torcher lifts your spirits and tugs at your emotions.