| abstract | - Stick an Englishman in a band with three true blue Texans and you’re bound to come up with something pretty original. In this case, the result is Electric Touch, the type of unbridled rock band that’s been missing from the scene for sometime now— a monster of a group whose sound is big enough to fill an arena. Really, their name says it all. “I thought it was like A Clockwork Orange….almost a paradox,” says charismatic frontman Shane Lawlor. “But everybody thought it sounded like a vibrator.” That wasn’t exactly a negative. “That probably is this band in a nutshell,” he concedes. He’s not too far off: Electric Touch’s mind-blowing self-titled debut album (due out this summer from the Houston-based Justice Records), is a tour de force of brilliant melodies, rock hard riffs and stick-in-your-head lyrics. Produced by Frenchie Smith (Built to Spill, The Dandy Warhols, Meat Puppets) and mixed by Gavin Mackillop (Goo Goo Dolls, Sugarcult, The La’s), the album announces the arrival of a bold new talent. The four piece’s chemistry was instantaneous. Shane, who’s originally from Nottingham, England, landed in Austin after he fell in love with an American girl and decided to stick around. (He’s been in Texas for three years now). He met guitarist Christopher Messina about a year ago and things just clicked. Soon Christopher’s twin brother Louis ditched Houston and headed to Austin to join Electric Touch on drums. “After our second session I realized I needed to stop everything else I was doing in my life and pursue this band full time,” says Louis. “It was the first time I could actually listen to one of my songs and have total confidence in what I was doing.” Bassist Ross Dubois, a friend of their producer’s from Corpus Christi, rounded out the line up in September. “When we met him and jammed with him it felt almost preordained that he was the one,” says Christopher. Electric Touch’s eponymous debut record is compelling from start to finish, full of ever-changing moods and textures. “Who Put The Fire Out?” which starts out with subtle, syncopated piano and culminates with a soaring, old-school wave-your-lighter-in-the-air guitar solo, packs not only power chords but a powerful message. On the track, Shane asks “who decides sinners are sent to be saved/who appoints killers and who appoints the preyed/who do we ignore/who do we obey.” He explains, “I took one long look at the world and decided that rather than preach to anybody to let people come to their own conclusions." Another standout is the charging, big-chorused “Don't Be Afraid” the first song Shane and Christopher wrote together. “I remember it being really late at night,” says Christopher. “We had a jam and came across a nice rhythm that we structured the song around, then laid a nice melody on top.” The unabashedly optimistic “Saved” is another favorite of his: “It’s beautiful song,” he says of the open-hearted ballad which recalls two of literature’s most well-known characters—the star-crossed Romeo and Juliet. “I can't help but think of people I love and everyone I care about when I hear it. When you're down and out you need someone to be there for you…someone to save you.” ”Lines,” with its sly groove and Bowie-meets-Beatles sensibility, is a song that hits especially close to home for Shane. “A lot of people think the title is a drug connotation,” he says, “but no one could afford drugs like that in my hometown when they were young.” Instead, the song is about his experience of going on the dole. “I was a bad lad, you know, when I was 16,” he recalls. “I got the good grades but I took a turn and got kicked out of school for having a little too much fun.” Nottingham was a rough place at the time and still is full of crime and soul-killing assembly line jobs. Shane found himself signing on to public assistance briefly before eventually earning a pittance packing boxes at a factory. As you can imagine, that didn’t stick for long. “I felt like Marlon Brando in The Wild One,” he says. “I wanted to be the one that got out.” (Eventually he moved to London, got session work as a multi instrumentalist, toured with Oasis and landed a U.S record deal as part of The Thieves). In contrast “Breakdown, a good-time tune built around a killer guitar riff, shows the band’s gritty, bluesy side. Says Christopher, “It’s the kind of rocking song which is good to play at two o’ clock in the morning and just explode for two and a half minutes.” Ross is a fan of “Give Me A Sign,” which he aptly describes as sounding something like “the Bee Gees if they were a punk band.” But it’s the anthemic “Love Is In Our Hearts,” with its idealistic lyrics (“We can take the world on/We make it/just stay strong) and Britpop bluster that is arguably the best introduction to Electric Touch. The track veers brilliantly between a raw blues taunt and melody-laden message of hope. “It’s about harmony; it’s about the light at the end of the tunnel; it’s about how we can make it if we show a little love,” offers Shane. One explanation for Electric Touch’s refreshingly original sound is the members’ wide-ranging inspirations. If you check out their MySpace page, you’ll see everyone from literary giants (Bukowski, Dylan Thomas, and, of course Lawrence) to movie stars (Brando) and classical composers (Mozart) to rock bands (Aerosmith, Led Zep, The Beatles) referenced. “We wanted to show that our inspiration is from all those things, and honestly it is,” says Shane. “If you came over to our house we could be listening to anything from Mozart to the theme for Batman. We draw inspiration from not just music we like but from life—from all the things that turn us on.” Additionally, each member injects a bit of his own musical history into the equation. Christopher grew up on Bay Area punk and liked Green Day as a kid. His brother Louis was the hard rocker of the Messina family and got off on Aerosmith and Kiss. “Being a drummer, I’m a big fan of that arena rock sound,” says Louis. “I want pure power behind the drums, nothing fancy.” Shane recalls spending Sunday mornings in his youth listening to the radio show “Gem AM” with his family while at the breakfast table. “They played all the golden oldies-The Hollies, ELO and T-Rex,” he remembers. “I used to hate it but it must have gotten under my skin because years and years later that was the music that I found myself drawn to.” Ross was more of a classic rock guy whose tastes ran the gamut from Led Zeppelin and The Beatles to Elton John and Billy Joel (thank his piano teaching mom for the latter two). “I’ve been playing in bands since I was 14,” says Ross. “When I was a kid I tried sports and figured out that I wasn’t very good, so I picked up the guitar. That’s all I’ve really done since.” That hasn’t changed much for Ross, or for the rest of the group. Since forming the band less than one year ago, it’s been Electric Touch 24/7. Not only do the guys live and breathe the band, but Shane, Christopher and Louis actually share a house. “It’s like the Monkees really, writing songs, reading and becoming better musicians,” says Shane. “We’re like brothers.” But none of the guys are going to tolerate any monkey business when it comes to the band’s future. They’ve all had their share of bad experiences with past groups and recognize that Electric Touch’s chemistry is a once-in-a-lifetime proposition. “We’re four very determined young men who know exactly where we want to go,” says Shane, “and that’s to the top.” Electric Touch is off to an impressive start. They wowed crowds at SXSW and are already booked to appear at the Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo and ACL festivals. But they’re not taking their early successes for granted. “We don’t expect anything to fall in our laps,” stresses Shane. “And I’m not going to bullshit you, we all work really hard.” At the end of the day, Electric Touch is all about the music: the adrenaline release, that intoxicating feeling that only a killer rock song can give you. Says Shane, “For me rock and roll was always about escapism—quite literally it was a way to escape my hometown.” “When people come to see us play, we want them to leave their troubles at the door. Their worries will still be there tomorrow,” he continues. “But for right now, let’s get together and have a good time.” Consider that an invitation. Band Members: Shane Lawlor Christopher Leigh Louis Messina Jr. Ross Dubois Songs:"Give Me a Sign," "Don't Be Afraid," "Love in Our Hearts," and "Breakdown" MySpace.com - Electric Touch
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