The first thing I have to say about Torso is; they surprised me. Judging a book by its cover I was unsure about them. Their name and the antiqued typeface it's written in on the cover, the dark suits, the label name and the title of the album itself "Percolatin' With Lucifer", really had me concerned as to how many goats were harmed in the recording sessions. What I heard when I spun up the disc were some very skillfully written jazz joints, worked up into a downtempo feel with subtle electronic accents. I was impressed.

1. The Motorist
2. My Pretty Antidote
3. Alpha Almighty
4. Sanjibel
5. Sky Train
6. King Rabbit
7. What Is Sand?

Torso give each song a fresh yet familiar treatment that maintains the album feel which is sometimes lost on new artists, but doesn't leave you feeling like you've heard the same song seven times in a row.

The "Torso sound" is comprised of naturally programmed percussion, big, jazzy horns, dreamy vibes, acoustic (classical) guitar, fretless bass and understated synth pads and keys.

In "My Pretty Antidote", the duo lay down a bed of drums, guitar, smooth bass lines, and very subtle near eastern percussion with crisp horns cutting through the otherwise placid, but upbeat surface. The contrast of the sounds really draws you in. Nicely done.

"Alpha Almighty" is led by a fairly straight-ahead, housey, 4/4 beat and features the same style horn work as in the "My Pretty Antidote", but this time its the quiet moments when the classical guitar shows through, and the occasional surfacing of sitar that catch my ear. This one also makes a very echoed and distorted attempt at including vocals, but none of the words are understandable.

"Sanjibel" makes the strongest use of vocals yet, which are more of a drawn out feminine moan sounding very much like the tone of Dead Can Dance singer Lisa Gerrard. Circulating synths, 60s-styled jazz horns, and classical guitar combine in a way that doesn't seem quite right.

"Sky Train" quickly redeems the duo however, with a combination of smooth jazz guitar, broken, flanged synth washes, a Latin percussive rhythm and jazz horn choruses with a nice horn lead that comes in halfway through.

"King Rabbit" brings back the house beats and couples them with tense guitar chords, horns and some busy vibe work which get kicked into a deep, Thunderball groove that makes it standout. Tense, edgy, jazzy, and with a strong groove... nice.

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