Torch Junkies - Immobilized By Love

Hear The Track Here

Another new name to me, this time from Soundclick. No idea where they are from but it's fairly obvious they have a Rolling Stones fixation, not only is there a cover of Sister Morphine on their page but even Immobilized By Love was inspired by them. As the band states 'tried to do one like the Stones.....didn't work.' Not surprising really, after all nothing wrong with aiming high but then there's the fekkin ridiculous ;) Kudos for trying though because as an area to mine, it's got huge potential still - as the Stones themselves are constantly proving. As you know, I am that rock animal so you can imagine I just gobbled this right up.

(Burp) Mmm spicy.

There appears to be two guys playing on this; Jeremy and Ken, between them putting together everything you hear. There is no doubting that what you are hearing are some accomplished musicians rocking out, and I'm glad I was able to spot that because otherwise I would have thrown this out within the first listen. If I were a betting man, I would have to say that this sounds suspiciously like a 'straight off the board' mix and a bloody awful one at that. The kind of mix that TV always applies to rock to make it sound as rough as possible. There is constant sound tripping over sound throughout the track, which is also recorded with lots of treble making it verge right on the edge of painful. This is particularly so in the lead vocal which even so manage to get drowned out by the backing track.

Shambolic would be the word, and I guess the Stones count there too...

I imagine that Immobilied By Love would sound absolutely stunning with a more polished approach but hey we all have to work within our limits. If I were judging this one the music alone then I have no doubt that Torch Junkies are the real deal - it's a great shame their presented sound sucks a big one, big time. The band are classed as Garage Rock and I guess that would definitely apply, although it seems to me that the band are doing themselves a dreadful disservice by releasing something so rough and unformed. Tremendous potential, of that I am absolutely certain, but hopefully encased in a more solid mix than this pitiful creature. To be sure, I went and listened to all the tracks on their page and the problem is evident everywhere; these are some excellent musicians who are crying out for a producer who knows whats what. Or a computer nut who fiddles with sound, which is much the same thing these days.

Excellent track severly marred by a really bad sound.