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Bad Touch: Half Way Home

(Melodic) Hard Rock

3.5/5.0

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Bad Touch Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 20.03.2015

Bad Touch, from Norfolk UK, are misplaced in time and place. They should be somewhere in Georgia and the year should be 1985. Formed as youngsters, some in high school, others in college, five years ago, the band has a sound akin to American southern hard rock, mixed with some blues and a whole lot of dirt road grit.

Bad Touch

With these things, Bad Touch simply plays classic hard rock. As much as you might here Georgia Satellites, Black Crowes, or Black Stone Cherry, you'll also hear Led Zeppelin and Bad Company in their sound. The riffs are all chunky, raw, and ragged, the rhythm section deep and steady, and Stevie Westwood sings with whiskey-soaked soul through his shaggy hair and handlebar mustache. Then they wrap their songs in groove and melody, tossing in some solid fiery lead guitar solos.

Considering the songs, I found myself leaning more to the straight up rockers like Waste My Time, New Day, Motherload or Sweet Little Secret. The livelier pace and groove takes some of the edge off Bad Touch's naturally heavy and thick sound. Some songs though are slow churning, ambling along with plodding direction like Preacher and Words I Never Said. Eventually, in the end they become energetic, but it seems a long time coming. Not my favorite stuff here. Other songs are quite dialed back, going from the churning to the slow burning, and possibly intended to be ballads. Half Way Home, Something Someone, and No Excuse, while generally fine songs, wear you down with their nearly laborious and arduous pace. Of three, the title cut seems the one with a pulse. Again, not some of favorite tunes of the album. Having said this, I believe this sliding scale of tempo and presentation among the songs is intentional, as natural as the guitar's raw and heavy riffs. I simply like things much livelier most of the time. Nevertheless, with Half Way Home, Bad Touch has defined their sound, offering classic hard rock touched with groove and American southern blues. Take some time to check them out.

Bad Touch - Down | Winner Of The 2013 Marshall UBC

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With Half Way Home, Bad Touch has defined their sound, offering classic hard rock touched with groove and American southern blues. Take some time to check them out.

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