“Red Light Camera” is the debut single from Torchy, a new band comprised of four veterans of the NYC underground rock scene. Check it out:
Members include front man Jim Santo (vocals, guitar), longtime lead guitarist for acclaimed orchestral-pop ensemble The Sharp Things, and current member of legendary producer Wharton Tiers Ensemble; John Neilson, whose varied career includes stints with Speed The Plough, Airlines (with music critic and public radio host Jim DeRogatis), and ensembles led by composers Glenn Branca, Rhys Chatham, and Tiers; Edwin Siino (drums), formerly of the art-pop bands Cryptic Soup and Jenifer Convertible; and Alec Cumming (bass, vocals), a noted pop culture historian and driving force behind pop-forward indie bands The Hungry Dutchmen and Bite The Wax Godhead. (Alec, who also played bass in The Sharp Things for several years, is the father of Julia Cumming, singer/bassist for up-and-coming psych-rockers Sunflower Bean.)
Torchy’s music is sharp, groove-oriented and offbeat; influences include The 13th Floor Elevators, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, The Fall, The Saints, Iggy & The Stooges, Fire Engines, Contortions, Pell Mell, This Heat, League Of Gentlemen, XTC, Feelies, Can, Pere Ubu, Talking Heads, Butthole Surfers, PiL, Bush Tetras, Mission Of Burma, Velvet Underground, Fela, James Brown, The Horrors, MBV, Tinawaren, Bo Diddley, and The Ex — to name a few!
Torchy will make its performance debut tonight at 17 Frost Art and Performance Space, located at 17 Frost Street in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. You can stream and download the single from Dive Records.
