Torus
Torus
Apparently there’s some big buzz incoming with Torus, though it’s understandable if you choose to remain skeptical. These straightforward, riffier rock bands often get given an inch and take a light year, particularly when there’s a minor ‘celebrity’ angle to boot. Now, to be fair, Alfie Glass is probably a more qualified name in that space, having received praise from Tony Iommi on the talent show Guitar Star at just 12 years old; this clearly isn’t some Toseland-esque vanity project destined for nothing beyond the coattails of its main man. And at least Torus have evidence to their name already on a rather proficient Queens Of The Stone Age impression with their EP Sail.
Thankfully, the floor of quality remains overall secure in the jump to a full album. Some caveats still apply; for one, this is a more all-purpose ‘90s rock sound than anything too specific. Moreover, the additional bloat and flab is difficult to miss, thanks to music that’s not exactly high-octane and fills a significant amount of space. The rust of an ever-so-slightly premature debut coats this thing, but if Torus are good at anything, it’s giving off the impression they aren’t fazed. They never sound unconfident at any point, nor do they really fly off the handle. Right up to the end, you’re still getting smashers like the Silverchair riff of Gone, and the more refined, sophisticated take on a Royal Blood-ish thump with Back To Life.
It speaks to an almost unflinching solidness to Torus that they can pull this off as they do. It’s the embodiment of ‘real’ rock music, free of tassels and unnecessary baggage, and also the arthritic grind that afflicts many (usually the oldies) burdened with that tag. By no means is this electrifying compared to, say, your average cache of new, hungry hardcore upstarts, but when Torus will never find themselves in an environment where that comparison is meaningful, it doesn’t need to be. They’ll rub shoulders with the likes of The Blue Stones as seen on Avalanche, where their generally underfed riff-rock is subsumed entirely by Torus’ better version. As for some tidings of Oasis on When It Comes and earlier Foo Fighters on Downfall, they don’t feel like overreaches in the slightest.
But even amongst all of that, you’ve just a really well-put-together rock band in Torus. They’d easily slot among the ‘not-quite-retro-but-classic-enough’ crowd, and even rise above them in many cases, thanks to detail in the approach that’s such a natural boon. In a way that their prospective peers seem often incapable of, Torus approach a threshold of cool that makes all the difference. No need to be skeptical in this case—even on a debut that wouldn’t hurt from some pruning, this is the real deal.
For fans of: Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Royal Blood
‘Torus’ by Torus is released on 13th September on MNRK / Inside Job.
downcast
WTF HAPPENED???
downcast would’ve ate in 2016. Regionally-accented UK pop-punk with the slightest of emo bents? Yes, please; can’t get enough of the stuff! Who cares if it all sounds functionally the same and will become obsolete within the next couple of years or so? In fairness, coming about after the fact might be more a mixed fortune; at least there’s less competition clogging up all elbow-room. Still, as was true on their album I Saw Hell When I Was With You, downcast are firmly locked in that mould, and a bigger leap up requires more than that.
Under the circumstances they find themselves in, a four-track EP is not accomplishing that. Like, it’s alright, but in the sense that most of this stuff is by default. You don’t get an apt sense of identity from downcast, a difficult ask already on such a small package, and made all the more blatant by a lack of engagement with the idea. The closest they get is your band sucks anyway, a take on the ‘clap back at the haters’ formula that’s noticeably meaner in the insults and volleys it chooses to hurl. It’s not a thing to rely on longterm—and can debatably seem too vicious for how petty it is—but hey, it’s a talking point, if nothing else.
As for the rest of WTF HAPPENED???…again, it’s alright. As a pop-punk release mindful of the specific generation drawn from, everything’s in the right place. Hell, on your absence, downcast actually impress with double-kick drums that filter in more heaviness than you’d otherwise expect. The rest is more ‘usual’, though, in the chunky guitars and ever-so-gradually stormy production, and vocals bellowing through the normal lack of refinement present in UK pop-punk as a rule. The occasional Wayne’s World sample might imply an older mindset within rock music, but they feel more like zeitgeist-y window-dressing than anything significant.
Apparently a theme of ‘90s nostalgia is intended to run throughout. It’s hard to spot in any great capacity, and it likely wouldn’t do a huge number on downcast’s memorability anyway. As of now, they’re good at a basic pop-punk framework with little indication of anything else, let alone somehow making an already stripped-bare concept as a love for the ‘90s into something unique to them. As a result, WTF HAPPENED??? would fit among existing, extensive pop-punk collections with zero liabilities, without much more to give. Even if there’s success to be found in that, it’s in an incredibly limited quantity.
For fans of: ROAM, Neck Deep, WSTR
‘WTF HAPPENED???’ by downcast is released on 6th September.
Light Grey
NIGHTM@RES
Remember the days of Hellogoodbye or early Owl City, where some big poindexters could make electro-pop-rock, stick it on MySpace and get enormous? Well, because time is the flattest of circles, that’s coming back, apparently. Though, maybe not in the capacity of a trend; something about Light Grey just screams “one-off”. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what that is, but you feel it in the vibe—a band whose tight, little package is crafted to their specific needs, where even the slightest bit of dissemination would undo it. On an album that’s already only decent at best, it’s not the greatest outcome, but at least NIGHTM@RES gets its own way and does tend to stick the landing.
You might even be tempted to call this a more palatable update of the nerdcore shtick, when the musical influence is consigned to whizzing squeals of synth here and there. Then again, there’s also the nasal vocal that can charitably be called ‘divisive’, and the shelf life of Light Grey begins to come into stark view. When there’s a bit of momentum on Famous and Director’s Cut to wipe some of the excess sugar away, that’s fine, but hurtling into unbearable tweeness on Square One and the title track is a bridge or several too far. They’re like the most stomach-upsetting bits of the MySpace era exhumed, only with the good graces to know their worth (or lack thereof) and remain as a clear minority.
To that end, then, you might get a better average with NIGHTM@RES overall. Look past the mid-2000s coat and there’s a competent-enough pop-rock endeavour here, like a firmer, less neurotic Waterparks on songs like Crazy or Losing Sleep. Even if that means a sparking individuality is severely toned down (you could pretty much extrapolate the lyrics and themes of Crazy and Loser just from titles alone), Light Grey still know their way around a hook. Especially in the first half, there’s some undeniable earworms here. The basis for strong pop-rock is entirely that, after all, and NIGHTM@RES rarely allows even its most well-telegraphed shortcomings to undercut it.
So even if their work isn’t exceptional, Light Grey do generally end up okay. Feels like there should still be a big, pulsating asterisk on that statement, but that comes from pure preference than anything specifically ‘wrong’. In fact, that might be why there’s no nascent revival to be birthed from this—it’s not an easy auto-sell like it was almost two decades ago. At the same time, the fact that Light Grey don’t seem to shooting for immediate nostalgia-bait is an endearing thought. If this really is just a one-off entity its in own little scene segment, continuing on like this would be fine.
For fans of: Waterparks, Hellogoodbye, Happydaze
‘NIGHTM@RES’ by Light Grey is released on 13th September on Never Meant Records.
Words by Luke Nuttall
