I first saw Torches, the indie band from Pasadena, perform last year at the Echoplex during a long (and fun) night of local bands in succession, and I got to see them again on Monday night at the Echo, where they are currently having their month residency. I suppose that, for bands, residency means ‘do whatever you want’ as they have to play four nights in a month and want to make it interesting and not monotonous. So Torches came up with this excellent and appealing idea to have an ‘Arcade Fire cover night’… oh they did play their own songs too – what would be the point to be only a cover band? – but they added this zesty twist in their Monday night residency. Who wouldn’t want to have an Arcade Fire mini-concert at the tiny Echo? Torches are not the Canadian band of course, but they absolutely did a great job at covering the iconic anthems like ‘Wake Up’, or ‘Rebellion’ and, of course, the appropriate ‘Month of May’.
Now the magic combination ‘Arcade Fire’ has been used in the reviews of numerous indie bands’ works, but Torches didn’t strike me as an Arcade fire copy-cat when I saw them months ago. The idea of the Montreal band didn’t even cross my mind, although, believe me, it definitively comes to my mind a lot! And that’s a very good point for Torches, because who needs another Arcade Fire?
Still, it was pretty daring to juxtapose their own songs with these beloved youth rebellious anthems,… it’s like asking for a comparison! And I am saying this because, after this experience, Torches’ music did not entirely sound different from Arcade Fire’s. If none of their songs gets close to be a new ‘Wake Up’, both bands make passionate, moody pop music animated by a real urgency and a dynamic drumming, they have a big expanding sound, they use some of these melodic oooo-ooos quite often, they have nice female-male harmonies, plus, this time, Torches had a string section with violin and cello for the occasion,… so they sounded closer to Arcade Fire, without trying to be Arcade Fire; they simply did it with a natural ease, singing their lungs out during, you know, the big Arcade Fire moments, while showing a ferocious energy.
Azad Cheikosman and Eric Fabbro have been playing together for a long time and it shows, their playing was tight and precise, the guitars were sparkling and shimmering, the drums were storming, and their powered-up music had a foot-tapping ability mixed with a hypnotizing side only accentuated by the female violinist and cellist accompanying almost all the songs… I don’t know if they want to continue with this trend but they definitively should! Some songs like ‘I Want Something’ had even a propulsive post-punk sound with repetitive loops, whereas ‘Out of the Desert’ was dreamier with a catchy chorus and a layered sound all Arcade-Fired-up.
Torches just released their debut LP ‘Heads Full of Rust’ at the beginning of this month – and you can even download it at a ‘name your own price’ on their bandcamp page. They have already made appearances at Austin’s SXSW and New York’s CMJ festivals and their music has been aired on many radio stations, the BBC included. As a matter of fact, KROQ, the radio which will have this week its annual Weenie Roast with The Black Keys, Vampire Weekend, Thirty Seconds to Mars and so many other bands, was actually presenting the show at the Echo. At the end, this ‘Torches Do Arcade Fire’ idea may have been a very good one, a fame-ascending young band riding the fame of another one.
Setlist
My Bones
When You Gonna?
Rebellion (Lies)
Month of May
Wake Up
If the People Stare
I Want Something
The Freak
Voices
We’re Gone
Out of the Desert