itch

There are two bands named Itch:

1) a Yorkshire-based four piece band
2) a Vancouver-based band founded by songwriter/pianist Mark Critchley.

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1) Itch, like so many before them, know what it is to be a struggling band. Having poured themselves into their music for 5 years now, despite the hardships of countless gigs and little recognition they remain eager and fresh-faced youngsters with ambition in their sights and fire in their hearts. "There are so many bands out there each one wanting little scraps of attention it makes me sick to my belly sometimes," says frontman Mike Milner, but ultimately it's that sick feeling and desire to make it where others fall short that will keep them striving for more. "We just want to push boundaries and create something that burns through these dry forest floors of 2004."

Picking up the torch where underground heroes Spy Vs Spy prematurely dropped it, Yorkshire boys Itch make intricate and detailed songs that sparkle like little rough diamonds, never fully polished but always treasured nonetheless.

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2) Itch is the brainchild of Vancouver area pianist/singer Mark Critchley and features contributions from Rob Wright from NoMeansNo, which naturally should get some immediate attention from the more fanatical followers of that band. Itch's sound is an unusually dense, peculiar blend of piano and guitar in a wall of sound that also features erudite lyrics from Critchley. There are times when the sounds on the album are so dense and competitive that things boil down to a quagmire of noise, but for the most part the album is entirely full of infectious energy and baffling but deft arrangements. The piano inclusion into a primarily punk setting is intriguing and Itch pulls it off well. Critchley's vocal delivery is the only weak link in the music, as his voice is a thin, Biafra-esque wail that often resorts to reciting the lyrics rather than singing them. However, given the multitude of information presented by the music, a less than stellar vocal delivery can be overlooked. The album is also able to switch between slower, less clustered songs such as the excellent "Open Letter to Dr. Strange" and the thick molten slabs of chaos. Many of the arrangements allow for builds within the songs that create actual climaxes. The final track is a very impressive piano piece that shows off Critchley's ability on the instrument. While the album may sail past less patient ears, Dyin' to Be Jesus is a quite unique and enjoyable record that offers quite a bit to interest those looking for atypical punk infused hybrid music.

Pull the Wool, the second Itch album, is a continuation of where 1992's Dyin' to be Jesus left off, only with a bit better sound quality. One glance at the lengthy lyrics and one can immediatley tell Critchley has quite a few things on his mind. The liner notes also contain a ton of information on various political topics, similar to Jello Biafra's diatribes but better organized. Critchley's voice is still the one fly in the ointment, sounding like a thinner, wavering Biafra. He tends to recite his lyrics rather than sing them. It is the one thing a listener must endure to enjoy the record on a whole. Meanwhile, the band, which occasionally features NoMeansNo's Rob Wright on session bass, stirs up a whirling dervish of a sound, swirling with piano riffs, rampaging and speedy rhythms and often a wall of sound that nearly overwhelms a listener. At the same time, Critchley has a great sense of dymanics which can build the better songs into sweeping pieces. While everything sounds like it was recorded at ten, the production allows individual instruments a reasonable amount of clarity in the din.

Itch definitely will never find a huge audience. Either you will love the insane clustering of sounds or you will hate it. There isn't a whole lot of middle ground with their output. However, at the same time, you aren't going to find many other challenging artists within this realm and Itch stands tall as a very unique artist.

~ reviews by John Chedsey, Satan Stole My Teddybear