A startling demo from stop-start champions
Itch are good. Really bloody good. I can't remember the last time I was so instantly impressed by a band, and it only took the first five seconds of opener 'I've Burnt All My Bridges' for me to realise I was listening to something very special indeed.
The 4 tracks featured on this demo are soon to be found (albeit with a little 'sonic tweaking' or so I'm told) on their as yet untitled debut album, which will be their first release since the 'Boy Who Cried Wolf' EP was put out by Happy Astronaut records early last year. The Yorkshire boys have been working hard for 5 years now and the experience shows. The quality of their songs and their tightness as a unit lift them above the level of a mere 'toilet' band, and the album should result in a significant increase of recognition. Recognition however, is not the name of the game for Itch, a fact that frontman Mike Milner makes very clear: "there are so many bands out there, each one wanting little scraps of attention - it makes me sick to my belly sometimes". A noble sentiment, but I'm afraid that if they don't stop making music of such an unfailingly high standard, it's something they're going to have to get used to.
Itch sound a lot, and I mean almost identical, to the sadly defunct And None Of Them Knew They Were Robots, especially in their 'Red' album era, but this is no bad thing. Beautifully unsettling guitars shimmer and sway, occasionally lapsing just out of time before stuttering back to life - there's even a touch of Cap'n Jazz to be found here. The time signatures change, the vocals issue a delicate scream, the melodies suddenly make sense and you sink into the music like a dream - this is glorious. The press release compares them to Spy vs Spy, and whilst I agree on a musical level, I also feel that Itch are of a high enough calibre to sit comfortably in such esteemed company. "We just want to push boundaries and create something that burns through these dry forest floors of 2004" - buy the album, go and see them live, tell all your friends and help this wildfire spread.
The only problem I have with this demo is the stupid uPpEr/LoWeR case font used on the artwork. I think I'll let them off, I think you should too.