Cracktorch

Tonight the City (Declassified)
By Brian Varney

One of the most curiously-named bands I’ve run across recently. Based on the name Cracktorch, I was expecting a dense, noisy, aggressively inaccessible cataclysm. Instead what I got when I cued up Tonight the City is a pleasantly accessible attempt at radio rock. Think AC/DC with the blues replaced by a cheerful pop-rock disposition and a clean, radio-ready production sheen. It’s not quite the Rick Springfield pop of geographical neighbors Waltham, who are a pure pop band and have much better songs, but neither is it the cocaine rodeo I was expecting.

When it works, as on “One Time,” it approaches spectacular. The band rocks and the guitars roar alongside the stacked vocal harmonies and the super-catchy chorus, and it all works beautifully. Unfortunately, the material is not consistently of such a high caliber, and when a lesser song like “C’mon” or “Monkey” is run through the same paces, the record is merely serviceable.
(www.declassifiedrecs.com)