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Garage rock is back so warn the neighbors, get yr parents out of the house, and let 'er rip. With bands such as the Hives and the White Stripes flooding the airwaves it's time for the bandwagon to pick up passengers of hopefuls and tour the nation, snatching up all the slop-rockers out there who are ready for the big time. Enter Tora! Tora! Torrance! from Minneapolis, MN, a band of fairly talented musicians whose debut album Get Into It takes one back to the rehearsal spaces of days past, complete with carpet on the concrete, junk lining the walls and hours to play for the sake of playing. Not to imply that !TTT! is a knock-off ready to coattail their way to fame, but now's the time for bands of this genre to make an attempt at success for the style is getting popular on the market. With that said, this record could not have been released at a better time, so let's get on the bus!

Slop rock is an aesthetic that milks the moment, interested only in pleasing its musicians with songs that range from loud and quick to long, slow and reflective. The name of the game isn't "songwriting" or technical exploration but rather emotional expression through whatever sounds cool, and !TTT! made me get nostalgic for my slop rock past by invoking the spirit of the late 80's, early 90's indie scene. This record comes across as the product of having nothing to do but play all day with good friends, and the result is a record that sucks the listener in with rock and roll that sneaks up with plenty of surprises and explosive moments. Unfortunately Nick Kroenigs (vocals) isn't nearly as charismatic as the rest of the band (Jason Peterson - guitar, Jon Tester - guitar, Ryan Wahlberg - bass, Jesse Panzer - drums), and the quality of his voice is less than pleasing. Think Jack White without a range while extreme pressure is being applied to his genitals and you'll get a sense of what Kroenigs' pinched, nasal, whine of a voice sounds like. Kroenigs is the weakest member of !TTT!, and being the frontman and the "voice" of the band, it's easy to discredit the music on this record which is quite excellent.

The only price one pays when turning to garage rock is suffering through some pretentious moments both lyrically and musically. Tora! Tora! Torrance! is guilty of this but one has to expect it from this type of band, it's inevitable, for better or worse. Musically they manage to steer clear, save for songs like "Save the Alamo", the outro of "The Sweet Sweet" and "Upstairs Bedroom at a Party". Lyrically, well, not my favorite album lyrics of the year. "Killer Cut the Phone Line" opens the record and lets the listener know exactly what one's in for with, "I'm sorry for being so metaphorical baby/You know why I cry at night/Is my church on fire?" as the bridge. And the fact that money was spent recording the filler song "Oh Frankie, We Are All Architects" is nauseating in a Jim Morrison's book of poetry kinda way. The lyrics on this album are so obscure that to figure out what songs are about is not a task worth taking. In "Miles Well", a song about a relationship (of what kind is unclear) with lyrics such as, "Deep down I've know and I know you've known, too/I want to live forever in Paradise with you." But don't get me wrong, obscure, pretentious lyrics full of bad metaphors is just part of the slop rock style. "Miles Well" as well as "Johnny Got His Crush" are two of the highlights of the album, building towards their climaxes so secretly that you don't notice 'til it rocks you right between the eyes.

This is a very solid debut record musically, but the singer in a band gives a band its personality, and Kroenigs doesn't deliver a very appealing fingerprint for Tora! Tora! Torrance!. For a band that has played musical chairs with several variations of its lineup since the band's conception (Sam Johnson replaced Jason Peterson and Travis Even replaced Ryan Wahlberg after this record was finished), it's amazing to me that they haven't tried a different singer because I think it would be in their musical and professional interests to do so. All in all, however, if you need a good rockin' then it is very easy to Get Into It with Tora! Tora! Torrance!.






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    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, October 9, 2004 at 5:22 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    i like teachers asses.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, October 9, 2004 at 5:21 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Jim Morrison's

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, October 9, 2004 at 5:19 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    You guys are fucking idiots. TORA! TORA! TORRANCE! is by far one of the greatest bands around. Fuck the blood brothers. they are a fucking shit band. TTT is amazing and all of you that don't agree are simply. LAME

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 18, 2003 at 12:32 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    yo, i'm from big T torrance bitches!! yeah, this town reeks of shit!

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, January 2, 2003 at 3:54 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    I got to say that people told me this record was crap but i put it on halfheartedly and loved every second of it...one of my favorite records now. and I saw them live and the singer was awesome...although it seemed like they played a lot of stuff that must be new coz it wasn't on the record.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 3, 2002 at 12:07 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    haha, i'm not even going to argue with you. and no not because i know i'm wrong as you will probably say. but because i know i'm right and you are too ignorant to understand.

    Posted by REALPUNX4LIFE on 2002-12-02 21:04:17
    My Score:

    "not all rock music is about those things."

    One of the dumbest things I've ever read. All ROCK music IS about those things. The kind of music that you're thinking about is called "not rock music."

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, December 2, 2002 at 7:47 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    "You don't see slayer, or ac/dc, or black sabbath writing songs about how sad they are because sally wouldn't stick around for a week. they sing about a) the devil, which is totally sweet and makes you mysterious to the ladies b) fucking, because they do that, a lot or c) drugs, guns, and alcohol because damnit this is ROCK, so go ahead and take rock out of your name because rock my friend, you do not. i mean i know you think the whole sensitive guy thing works or something, but it doesn't. you need to wail on a guitar, do some coke, and listen to back in black."

    one of the dumbest things i've ever read. not all rock music is about those things. someone needs to grow up.

    Posted by REALPUNX4LIFE on 2002-12-02 15:18:50
    My Score:

    "...ttt's sound is garage rock and compare them to the hives is almost moronic."

    I love irony. Don't you? What we need is more irony on tshirts.

    Posted by JiveSide on 2002-12-02 13:18:44
    My Score:

    I didn't compare !TTT! to the Hives in any way OTHER than the fact that both bands are slop-rock bands (the Hives are more about fun tunes rather than "art" tunes, but they are garage rock regardless).

    Posted by burnthegospel on 2002-12-02 12:30:51
    My Score:

    um, i don't know. not to sound like a fucking elite snob or anything but to say that ttt's sound is garage rock and compare them to the hives is almost moronic. yes, they far from an original and groundbreaking band, but i think their infulences would be dragged in from bands like ink and dagger, le shok, or the crimson curse, mostly san diego early 90's spock rock type shit. but yes they were once in a band called fed by ravens, great fucking band i must say. ttt is ok, but they should have kept going with fed by ravens for sure.

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, December 1, 2002 at 5:39 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    I remember when comments used to make good readin'.

    Whatever happened to JOE_MAMMA?

    Posted by jheisel on 2002-12-01 08:34:31
    My Score:

    correct me if i'm wrong, but i think this band used to be some christian hardcore band with just a lineup change. fed by ravens or something like that.

    Posted by WussEmoRock on 2002-12-01 05:19:27
    My Score:

    I'll be sure to keep all of that in mind. Thank you.

    *****Wuss-Emo-ROCK*****

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, December 1, 2002 at 12:36 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    haha for serious.

    why anyone would ever proclaim to be a WUSS is beyond me. fuck's sake man, bring back the days when people had nicknames like SNAKE...or CRUSHER, something tough. something to be proud of. i mean dude, you like bad music, put ASTERISKS(excuse me - STARS!) in your name, and tell people you are a)a wuss and b) emo. there's a reason the bands you like write songs about girls breaking their hearts - THESE GUYS ARE TOTALLY ONE DIMENSIONAL, NOT TO MENTION LAME AND GENERALLY AS INTELLIGENT AS THE RECORD LABEL THAT SIGNS THEM. You don't see slayer, or ac/dc, or black sabbath writing songs about how sad they are because sally wouldn't stick around for a week. they sing about a) the devil, which is totally sweet and makes you mysterious to the ladies b) fucking, because they do that, a lot or c) drugs, guns, and alcohol because damnit this is ROCK, so go ahead and take rock out of your name because rock my friend, you do not. i mean i know you think the whole sensitive guy thing works or something, but it doesn't. you need to wail on a guitar, do some coke, and listen to back in black.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, November 30, 2002 at 5:26 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    you're a joke wuss.

    Posted by WussEmoRock on 2002-11-29 23:03:02
    My Score:

    It's a joke you dumbass. get a life.

    *****Wuss-Emo-Rock*****

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, November 29, 2002 at 9:40 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    "What a bad band name."

    WussEmoRock, what a bad name to choose of all names on the internet you chose an emo name you pussy.

    Posted by maverick on 2002-11-29 20:39:33
    My Score:

    I hated this CD. It sounds like the Blood Brothers meets the Hives - two bands who are great separately, but should never be mixed.

    You hear me, T!T!T!?

    THEY SHOULD NEVER BE MIXED.

    -Scott

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, November 29, 2002 at 7:25 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    if they wanna get big they gotta put the in front of their name

    Posted by WussEmoRock on 2002-11-29 19:07:24
    My Score:

    What a bad band name.

    *****Wuss-Emo-Rock*****

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