|
Hailing
from Bellinzago in Italy D-Touch bring forth this EP crammed full of
what can only be described as surprisingly promising material for such a
young band. When the band first started out in the spring of 2002, they
were predominantly a covers band. Slowly finding their feet playing
songs by the likes of Hoobashank, Creed, Nickleback and Trust Company.
It wasn't long before they decided to step away from that scenario and
started to develop their own style and material.
Listening to the opening track of this EP 'Sunshine' it's easy to see
where their roots lie. 'Sunshine' is a strong melodic song that screams
'Creed' and 'Puddle of Mud' to me. Both are bands I like a lot, so it
was easy to pick out the roots of where the band were coming from with
this particular song. Lead singer Simone V's voice is a classic example
of this type of vocal style that has dominated the more melodic end of
the Nu-Metal genre. It's this acceptance of vocal styles that makes this
band so commercially accessible to a first time listener.
Travelling on through the EP we come to the second track 'Between You
and Me'. Verging more towards the metal vein as opposed to rock, the
band show that they can produce a very powerful combination of music and
vocals when they set their mind to it. Although it sounded a tad busy
for my own personal liking, both guitars and drums fight to grab your
attention. Very much an assault on the old eardrums that was fuelled
more by fury than passion and glory.
The third track 'My Eyes' sounded so familiar but that was so strange
because it's not a cover and this is the first time I've come across the
band D-Touch. Very bizarre! If this was played in a club I'm sure a lot
of people would get up and dance to it without actually realizing that
they didn't know the band at all. This is definitely my favourite track
out of the four though. This was the one that had the most redeeming
features to it. Perhaps it was the changes in tempo, or the carefully
crafted layering of guitars and vocals? Who knows.
The EP closes with a track called 'Reflections', which starts off
sounding quite aggressive before slipping straight back into the more
gentler mode. Another promising track that once more highlights the
potential this band has at their fingertips.
Overall the songs are promising, powerful, and overall commercially
attractive. The band continue the trend set down by others for this
genre of rock which has firmly found it's home in the hearts of many.
The mix on the EP was at times a little cloudy and occasionally the
songs sounded a bit busy.
It's as if the band weren't sure whether they wanted to put in more
melodic softer tones to the songs, or whether to project the stronger
guitars and drums, which were just dying to rock out at every
opportunity. Quite often I find it's the very structure of the songs
that make all the difference. Sometimes it's better to go with cleaner
lines and simpler sounds to enhance the true essence of what a band are
trying to portray with their music.
Perhaps these guys should rethink their sound to sound not too
complicated and decide once and for all which direction they want to go
in before they journey any further?
All said, you can hear that golden thread of promise that runs
throughout this EP. What the band needs to do now is continue to work on
more new material, get a few more gigs under their belt so they can
truly cause a stir, and then approach a label that caters for this end
of the market. I'm sure someone in the know could make these songs, and
this band really shine. For now they twinkle with promise. Let's hope it
won't be long before they shine in all their glory.
If you live in Italy and you see this band playing a club near you, go
see. If these songs are anything to go by then you'll see a great gig by
a band with a lot of passion for their music.
|