After a successful college radio campaign for their initial EP, Thought Transfer have just dropped Light My Way, a kicking full length debut of their driving grunge music. A trio, Thought Transfer keep things neat and tight. Their energy is pure dynamite, but they only use as much gunpowder needed in each song. Their intelligent self-restraint keeps the tension building just below the surface most of the time. When they release it, they soar into the stratosphere with plenty of vaulting vocals and fiery guitar phrases. Frenzied, enormous, and urgent is the state of mind these three must have been in with they recorded this album.Opening track “Another Mistake” jumps out of the gate and hit’s the ground running. Guitarist-vocalist Bob Katsiaficas, bassist Annie Hoffman, and drummer Matt Hayden pump out a fast moving feeling of fluid motion, as if their music is a sports car racing down a four lane highway. Immediate comparisons to Foo Fighters and Soundgarden are warranted but do not tell the whole story. There’s natural springs of energy boiling up here and there that are whole original in this genre.
“Wasting Away” is a deliberate slow burner. It takes its time unfurling its hard-hitting guitar phrases that fly out of the steady rhythm grooves. You can almost picture the sustained guitar chords skating over the thumpy, perfectly paced bass notes and drum fills. Katsiaficas belts this one out at the end like there is no tomorrow, erupting in an emotional expression that’s even more action packed than most other grunge acts.
The guitar puts out an edgy interval of notes, intermittently, over a concisely punchy rhythm section on “Never Gave Up.” Katsiaficas’s rangy belt makes an even huger impression here. He lets his throaty expression launch out from some deep reservoir of emotion that he’s kept bottled up for too long.
“Piece Of Luck” is a driven ambitious grunge-pop song. It has large hooky choruses and a compact rhythm section that makes the song irresistible. The sonic booming, nonstop groove keeps pouring forward like a force of nature. You’re afraid they’re going to aim it at you and knock you over with it, the pressure from a firefighter’s hose.
“Quicksand” comes at you with a thin riffy menace that soon widens into a more expansive song structure. The tension within the guitar parts keep the ear glued to the number while Katsiaficas employs his huge husky voice in the best grunge tradition.
“Get Up” finds Katsiaficas grinding out more turbo charged guitar lines. This number has a Ramones simplicity to the beat and low end, each loaded with energy that’s kept under control so the tension rocks with explosive possibilities. And during all of this roaring texture, a ringing, stinging lead guitar line punctures the sonic landscape and redesigns the song as it goes.
“Harder Than I Thought” has a spiraling electric guitar sound sweeping majestically over snappy drum fills. It steps forward with deliberate force, like Katsiaficas is aiming his laser bean of guitar note particles at a bulls eye right between the groove and vocal melody. He finishes off the task of building an intimidating sound with plenty of heft in his vocal approach.
“I Believe In Love” is the hugest sounding song on this album. Katsiaficas’s vocal abounds out over the music as if he’s shouting from a mountaintop, suggesting a major grunge radio hit. The perfect rhythmic boost from the bassist and drummer gives this song enough catchy underpinnings to keep the listener glued to the soothing chorus. The soothing quality lasts until Katsiaficas feels like flexing his muscular vocal and suddenly, easefully shifting dynamics. This is a lead vocalist who can go toe to toe with the best of them.
A steady thump pulls the listener into “Light.” The sonic textures are startling. The listener can feel the oomph in the piece when the trio play tighter and the music thickens into something you want to listen to closely to hear how they arrive at their sound.
Katsiaficas gets creative, as usual, at coming up with yet another cool, appealing guitar phrase on “Come Between.” He makes it sound like he’s playing a whole different kind of electric instrument. But, upon closer listening, he’s making his guitar sound like a machine that programmed to build factory parts, only to a rhythm.
“Moving Backwards” is an ironic song title for this album. Everything Katsiaficas plays feel like it’s taking you straight to a determined destination, even if each arrival point differs. The looming low end is scary in its dark overtones. His vocal juts out over the sonic textures and hangs in the air like a huge bird of prey with plenty of lift under its wings.
“Don’t Forget About Me” has more of that radio friendly feel in its rhythm section build up. When the chorus opens the song up, it turns the whole progression into a wide batch of hookyness. That huge, wide, soaring vocal over loud slaps of electric guitar chords will appeal to a generation of grunge fans. It’s also a treat to hear the guitar still humming during the ride out.
Kats closes out his album with “Turn Around,” a song poised like a big wild cat ready to pounce. It’s the heavy dose of sudden smacking guitar and bass notes that makes this song prowl in search of prey. Katsiaficas stretches his vocal timbre to put an effective screaming tone into his voice. The result of these combined effects is a song that startles with its dark colors as much as its talent caliber.
Aside from crafting fantastic grunge influenced songs, Katsiaficas creates, on Light My Way, the rock song equivalent of a film score. His sense of darkness, menace, speed, and urgency fills these songs with rippling personality. His Thought Transfer band just might shove grunge back into the mainstream.
