Twitch

Toronto pop trio Twitch only recorded a single LP before disbanding, 1981's Twitch and Shout, which was released originally by Bomb Records. Produced by Greg Warren and recorded at Toronto's Phase One Studios, the album featured a dozen songs by songwriter, guitarist, and singer Garwood Wallace, all of which were given a stripped-down, thin, and brittle sound by Warren, resulting in a bright and vaguely new wave feel to the album. Four bonus tracks from a live demo session recorded at Club Mon-Tiki in Quebec in December of 1981 have been tacked on for this expanded CD reissue from Bullseye Records, and it's interesting to note the difference between the studio tracks and the live ones. The demo songs have a much harder sound, suggesting that Twitch were a dynamite live band, and the thinness that mars the studio tracks is replaced on the live demos by a wonderfully rough and ragged energy, particularly on the impressive "Snap Me Out of This One" and the wry "Subdivision." The best of the studio tracks — like the opener, "Rock 'n' Roll Moment"; "What Do You Say," which features a easy boogie push; and the stop/start momentum of "My Girl Like to Fly" — would all have benefited from a rougher production approach. Twitch were an impressive and fun trio, but unfortunately their lone LP only hints at the ragged energy of the group's live sound.