It takes some balls to call out Tom Waits as a reference point in your band bio; Even more when your music fails to live up to even Waits’ weakest musical output.
You can see where the D.C. based indie blues noise band The Torches were going with that comparison; frontman Stephen J. Perron Guidry boasts a purposely off kilter delivery, with a deep baritone matched by a banjo and strings competing to be heard over the clash of oboe, drums and accordion, highlighted by oddball lyrics (like the album opener “You, You Sucker” which is not much more lyrically than the repeating lines of “I killed you, you sucker/I killed you, you sucker/ It’s all in my head”).
The nine other songs that make up The Authority of are not much stronger, coming off like a very weak version of Larry & His Flask or The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, two bands, by the way, that are worth checking out instead of this one.
The Torches – The Authority of/10/Lujo Records/2013
The Torches The Authority of Review
