$.08, PLUS SHIPPING

Today I'm writing a little piece on a Florida heavy rock quartet called Torche, who've been getting compared to Queens of the Stone Age because both bands have big loud guitars but also, like, choruses 'n' stuff. But the minute I put the CD on I was baffled. They don't sound anything like the Queens. Nor are they "stoner metal," the other tag every other hack slaps every band with loud guitars and less-than-160-bpm rhythms these days. This album sounds like late-80s/early-90s proggy-hard-rock, pre-grunge division: they're clearly lifting from Soundgarden, Jane's Addiction (Nothing's Shocking only), King's X (lotsa soaring vocals) and even also-rans like Saigon Kick and the reason for this post, The Big F.

I felt fairly safe in claiming nobody remembered The Big F but me until today. They were a power trio composed of the former bassist and drummer from Berlin and some guitarist. Their first album came out in 88 or 89 on Elektra, had no information on who was in the band, had ugly cover art (a weird little two-ears-and-a-knife thing heisted from Bosch, on a black background), and sank like a stone. They were dropped within months of its release. But it was a really good record - sludgy, loud, a slight edge of L.A. hard rock but with more meanness and misanthropy, like if the Cult had decided to rip off Blue Cheer instead of Steppenwolf for Electric. I used to like this album a lot back when it first came out, but it disappeared in one of my many CD purges of the last 15 years. I think I'm gonna get me another one, though, since it's available for, no kidding, eight cents plus shipping from Amazon.

But like I said up top, I thought I was the only person who remembered this band, until I Googled them and discovered this page. I feel really mentally healthy now.