The nucleus of Torrez has always been Kim Torres and Sidney Alexis. The two met at the University of New Hampshire in 1998 and were supposed to get married...but never did. They moved to Spain instead for five months, living without electricity or running water. Upon their return to the US, Kim, despite not having yet picked up a guitar, had songs pouring out of her. Torrez was formed, rhythm sections came and went, and in 2000 their debut album Wildhorse was self-released. It was lauded in Tape Op: "Those who connect with Tom Waits, Sparklehorse and Mazzy Star should really lock themselves up in a dark room with this material."
Last year Kim and Sid heard John Greiner after hours at a party jamming on drums and left there most impressed. His brother Chris just happened to play bass, and so the Greiner rhythm duo were brought
into the mix. Torrez was now ready to record their second record, The Evening Drag, which makes good on the promise of their debut. Kim Torres' voice is confident, sultry and aching. The mix of her and Sid's guitars and keyboard gadgetry is more lovingly measured. And the Greniers ground these songs' often ghostly twang on drums and bass.
Torrez captures the desolation and majesty of the port towns with their darkened barns and lonesome by-ways. Without the security of an established music scene, they've managed to create something rare: a sensuous, somber record that manages to hover just above despair, drawing the listener deeper into its lovely and haunting world with every listen.
Kimberlee Torres' voice lifts you to a place where dreams and sound converge; her sultry, saturnine tone packs an emotional punch while glimmering with hope. Sidney Alexis uses an array of guitars, from lap steel to baritone to Omnichord, to create soundscapes as aching and lonesome as the closed motels in a seaside town. John and Chris Greiner make up the blood-related rhythm section that drives the music beyond sadness and into redemption.
The Evening Drag is epic in scope, cinematic, and somehow intimate. One willingly surrenders to the pleasures held in its dark caress, even as its ever-present pop sense titillates the ear. This may well be the perfect soundtrack to your fever-dream.
User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL....
READ MORE
