TORA! TORA! TORRANCE!
A Cynic's Nightmare (Militia Group)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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This band rocks my world on several levels. Maybe you can relate. Here's why I'm putting their sticker on my guitar case and telling everyone to buy their CDs: Tora! Tora! Torrance! satisfies my punk, tripout and hard rock cravings with one song. Then the next song starts and they do it again. They have that unique "something" that only comes along every so often, that thing that one in every fifty bands in your record collection might have a hint of. You know it the minute you hear it, because your mind goes on ahead of you for a closer listen and you get goosebumps as you catch up. It doesn't matter that Nick Koenigs' voice is often almost a suggestion in the distance. This just makes you listen harder. The music builds in a sea of sliding bass lines and distorted guitars playing riffs that are similar but just slightly off, creating a wild cacophony that doesn't grate. It's 180 degrees from anything else I'm hearing right now. Because they're from Minneapolis and they play from the gut they'll be compared to Husker Du, but this is generally much more explosive than that. This is only album number two from a very young band and as I'm sure you're aware, the second album is supposed to suck. Apparently someone forgot to inform Tora! Tora! Torrance!.

© 2003 - DJ Johnson