Torrey
Torrey
(Slumberland)
I’ve always loved indie pop/rock. There’s something in its simplicity that I’ve always clung to. There’s an approachability and vulnerability to the best indie music, as well as that DIY punk rock spirit. These are songs written and performed by goofballs like me! Scratch that. I have no skills, but I sure can appreciate those willing to go for it. My ears are always drawn to dissonance, when paired with straightforward indie melodies. At their base, Torrey is an old school indie pop band with over busy drumming, imperfect scratchy/strumming guitars and meandering grinding basslines, but here they’ve added loads of noise – everything from washes of feedback, overloaded retro-sounding keyboards, incredibly upfront and aggressive tambourines. I think of the cut and paste genius of the Swirlies, the angular bitterness of the Archers of Loaf, or more currently: the most recent Alvvays album and their timeless melodic sensibilities. There’s a certain ramshackle feeling in this collection that provides an exciting depth and repeated discoveries with additional listens.
This self-titled second LP from Oakland band Torrey is their first for Slumberland Records and for me. I have not yet investigated their prior work, but am extremely excited by this release! To be honest, even though the lyrics are provided for this album, I can’t seem to make sense of them, yet so many of these tracks are incredibly contagious. The aptly titled “Pop Song,” has a repeated chorus of “A common blue” that has been stuck in my head endlessly for the past several days. This is not a complaint. It only makes me want to hear it again, even though I’m not so sure what it all means.
There’s no way that I’ve ever figured out how to describe this, but sometimes certain artists sound more meaningful. This is incredibly subjective, but I felt these songs upon first listen, even if many of the lyrics have remained elusive to me. Early favorite, “No Matter How,” is an exception. I love the repeated bridge refrain of “it will all be okay” landing just before the chorus of “no matter how you wanna spin it.” I feel like this message hits incredibly well in these days where we are all guilty of spinning our own stories to justify our own means. I know I’m certainly guilty of this. I seem to be able to assuage my own bad feelings by spinning my narrative to only positives. “No, I did nothing wrong!” It’s a powerful message for a catchy three or so minute song. The afore-mentioned “Pop Song” is also undeniably addictive, as well as the sweet sounding organ drenched “Bounce” and “Happy You Exist.” My favorite amongst these highlights though is the haunting “Moving,” which has a similar vibrato vibe as “How Soon is Now?” and a sneaky earworm of a chorus vocalized perfectly by singer Ryann Gonalves that is absolutely breathtaking.
It’s discovering new music like this that I find forever regenerative. If you’re familiar with pretty much any musical act to ever grace the Slumberland Records label, you will likely love this. If you’re not familiar, this could be a perfect gateway into a magical world.
(https://torreymusic.bandcamp.com/album/torrey)
