Touch Committee, all the way from San Francisco, originally released their debut album "Winter Beard" last year. Due to reasons I'm presuming are very little acclaim, attention or sales, have decided to offer it for free, a year after the original release. I'm going to skip a long introduction for this review because there doesn't seem to be that much information on this band out there, and instead, I'd rather urge you all to scroll down, click on the link in the "Download" section, scroll back up, and let this album download while you read this review.

What "Winter Beard" gives you for your money (see what I did there?) is twelve songs that are something of a hybrid between pop punk and emo as the 1990s once knew it. If you're looking for comparisons to well-established bands: a poppier Moneen instantly sprung to my mind. Quite plainly, they are rooted in emotional indie as they are very emotional themselves, only in they channel it through an upbeat demeanour, resulting in a positive attitude. Vocalist Seth has an impressive range and plenty of character so you'll be endeared by the manner in which he sings, making the quotable lines and catchy choruses all that more enjoyable, from the angry start to "For The Union Dead" to "Sunshine Suit", which, as the title suggests, is incredibly bright. The guitars drift between being quirky and restrained as required, but they offer a charm in the form of being constantly playful. All of this mounts up into a sound that's best described as bouncy and best served in summer.

I could talk about how the hand clap-led start to "Sunshine Suit" is sure to get your foot tapping like it's on a sugar rush (as I type, my foot is genuinely tapping to it), or the end to final track "The Loop" which is the perfect culmination of multi-layered sing alongs and frolicsome guitar lines, but generally speaking, individual highlights are not here. You'll listen to "Winter Beard" and enjoy it as an album front start to finish, and not just for a few stand out tracks. Has the biggest bargain of 2010 come from 2009? Quite possibly. [8]

Download: It all. For free. Right here.
For The Fans of: Moneen, Ace Enders, Tigers Jaw
Listen: Myspace

Release Date 2009
Self-Released



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