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Very special thanks to everybody, who fed me with data and
background information.
The
Early Years
Torment
was originally formed by Simon Brand, Sean
Holder and Kevin Haynes
in the second half of 1985. Sean Holder knew
Simon Brand as they both were band members of
a Bristol-based Rockabilly band in 1984, under the
Jumpin Jacks moniker and
Sean and Kevin had been playing with the
Joint Jumpers, when Kevin was
introduced to Simon.
The fellows kept in touch. Simon Brand wasn't active
on the rockin' scene since he
was asked to leave Frenzy and had left the
Jumpin Jacks the year before
and Kevin Haynes and Sean Holder were also looking
for a new opportunity as the Joint Jumpers
didn't seem to go anywhere. Consequently,
a new band was born. The only thing left to find was a
band name, which was finally found on the flip side of
the classic 12" EP release of Robot
Riot , a recording from Simon Brand's days
with Frenzy: TORMENT.
By
November 1985 the band was already up and running. The
trio started to rehearse in Sean Holder's garage
and wrote down some songs of their own. Among those early
tracks were Uncle Sam, The Source and Death
Trail. The three-piece was supported
by 'Nutty' Dave Ayres,
who finally organised two gigs for the band in Brighton on
the 23rd December and another gig in Bristol on Christmas
eve. The two shows also included some other relatively
newcomers of the scene with The Long Tall Texans
and the Coffin Nails respectively. In
January 1986 the first demo tape was recorded, but not
all was hunky-dory. Kevin and Simon decided to sack Sean, who was
promptly replaced by Tony Biggs. Tony- who later
eventually joined The Rimshots- was the
original bass player of The Firebirds-- the
band that was Simon Brand's first musical outfit
in the very early eighties. But that was just another
short-lived affair.
In
1986 the Torment thing really started to
thrive, a manager was hired in Clive Metti, a demo tape was accorded to Roy Williams
from Nervous Records, who showed interest in
releasing some material and a record deal was inked. The
threesome were also booked for the Klub Foot.
In the spring of 1986 Nervous Records released a
compilation album entitled Zorch Factor-One, that
included--besides an old Frenzy track from
the 12" EP Robot Riot (All Alone) -- a
bunch of new talent. Torment also made its
record debut with a two-track appearance. My Dream
is a funny song about that sort of girls, that only
appears in dreams. The other song The Source broached
the issue of arguing Psychobilly/ Neorockabilly vs.
Authentic Rockabilly. The threesome were also booked for
the Klub Foot.
Tony Biggs left after the initial Torment
release and Simon Crowfoot, an other old mate
from Simon Brand, took over the double bass
duties and more gigs were held, too.
Torment also had a three track appearance on
the Stomping At The Klub Foot compilation album
series and, but have been most
noticed for their debut LP Psyclops Carnival, which
hit the record shops in the summer of 1986 .
The album was recorded at Diamond Studios in two days and
produced by Roy Williams and the trio. The album
proved to be one of the genre's true classics. To specify
the impact, that the album has had on Psychobilly, I've
added this excerpt from Craig Brackenridge's
book "Let's Wreck-Psychobilly Flashbacks From the
Eighties & Beyond ", taken from Chapter
4:The Song Remains Insane-Early Psychobilly Classics:
"…As
The Psychobilly scene really began to establish itself on
vinyl, speeding over the horizon came two other
groundbreaking debuts from Torment and Demented
Are Go which pushed the genre onto new heights of
composition and further depths of depravity. I had seen
and heard little of Torment when I bought a
copy of their debut platter in 1986.
"Psyclops Carnival" seemed a bizarre
title and it looked a little different to many of the
psycho albums released up to that point, with its stark
black & white imagery and sombre tone. After giving it
a first spin I was initially unimpressed as it lacked a
certain boot-stomping immediacy but as I continued to play
it the tracks really grew on me. Like many of the songs on
The Guana Batz debut, there were many lyrics
expressing personal concerns and steadfastly avoiding what
were then psycho-standard themes such as horror,
graveyards, getting pissed and mental patients. While I do
not intend to get all chin-strokingly philosophical here,
it can not be denied that Torment offered
another level of intelligent song-writing, mostly from the
pen of Simon Brand, along with yet another radical
reworking of the traditional twangy geetar, drums and
double-bass line-up…
… Torment were one of the many excellent
Psychobilly bands which I felt could have had major
success had they continued, weathered the quiet years, and
been offered the opportunity to cash in on the type to
many Yank and Aussie bands since the late Nineties. They
really struck out on the UK psycho scene with a distinct
image, well crafted songs with strong lyrical contend and
a really unique sound."
Three´s
A Crowd
Within
a year of existence, the band has become one of the genre's
best known and highly regarded acts, mostly brought about
by their surge of releases in 1986. The trio also had
appearances on the Stomping at the Klub Foot VHS
footage and on the second volume of the Psycho Attack
Over Europe compilation album series. The band was
booked for an extensive "Psyclops Tour"
on European mainland, which started in early 1987,
highlighted by an appearance at the First Psychobilly
Weekend in Dendermonde,
Belgium in April in front of an estimated crowd of more
than 1,000 Psychobilly kats .
But even the countless gigs couldn't prevent the trio from
doing more work in the record studio. Nervous Records
released the four-track 12" EP " Mystery
Men in 1987. They also recorded two more songs for
the second volume of Zorch Factor: True
Expressions, a song that was written by Simon
Crowfoot and the wonderful Hornet's Nest, a
wild rockin' parable on Psychobilly lifestyle.
By end of the year Nervous Records issued their
second album Three's A Crowd, which was produced
by Simon Brand's companion and Frenzy
co-founder Steve Whitehouse. The long-playing
record was as essential and good as the forerunner, but
has lost some of its original impact over the years ,
most probably because it was never re-release on CD. The
album also became a footnote of music biz history as
hitting the Top 20 of the UK Independent Album Chart in
December of 1987. The 12"
vinyl was packed in a folding sleeve, that included a load
of photos from their Psyclops Carnival Tour in
Germany of the same year. It includes ten tracks, mostly
wild rocking, but catchy melodies supplemented by those
distinctive lyrics regarding personal concerns, mental
unbalance and a couple of anti-love songs. The only cover
version of the long-playing record is an excellent interpretation
of The Ricochets' I'm A Loser. All
tracks but one also eventually made it on the Best Of
Torment CD , which was released in 2000
(The only song that was overlooked in fact is These
Chains)
After a relatively quiet 1988, that was highlighted by an
appearance at the 3rd Belgian Psychobilly Festival in
Gent, which was arguably one of the biggest events of the
eighties and a re-recording of My Dream for the 3rd
Psycho Attack Over Europe compilation , Torment
finally released another full length platter the following
year.
Round The World, which also marked the 50th album
release of Nervous Records, really differs from all
that other Psychobilly recordings of the late eighties.
The majority of the remaining , original outfits plus most
of the scene´s newcomers were all in search for a new
heavier, faster sound of Psychobilly. But the trio from
Bristol struck another new path through the world of
Psychobilly. The back sleeve of the disc includes a b/w
promo photo with the band dressed up in made-to-measures
suits, ties and neat combed hairstyles. The set list
affords plenty surprises too. Speed changes, a sound
repertoire comprising Swing elements (Good To Be True),
Neorockabilly (Sail Away) and classic Psycho (Laser
Head) as well as the a-capella version of the Eddie
Cochran classic Twenty Flight Rock or the
melancholic ballad Hideaway, that was recorded with
a string section are in contrast to most of the other
Psychobilly related releases of the era. The back sleeve
also includes an intelligent,
short review of the album, written by Peter Michaels:
" Love 'em or loathe 'em, you can't deny that Torment
have come up with something daringly different with Round
The World. The blending of twentieth century
technology with fifties frenetics coupled with a selection
of songs that push their chosen music to its limits, has
resulted in a disc that is no less than dazzling, highly
recommended. "
Curtain
Call
It´s
1990 and the band recorded their fourth and what
eventually proved to be the final Torment album.
Hypnosis tied up to Round The World with its
very special blend of sounds and influences from various
musical backgrounds. The tracklist includes two strong
cover versions of the Bo Diddley standard Who Do
You Love? and a surprisingly refreshing recording of
the Tina Turner 80´s smash hit single I Can´t
Stand The Rain. Despite a few weak moments, I´m
convinced that this platter does not pale in comparison
with any other recording from that era. Rather, songs like
Worse And Worse, Washed Out, Psyclone Joe
and Don´t Despair all remain true gems of the
Psychobilly genre. The album was distributed on 12´´
vinyl and on a relatively new sound storage medium called
compact disc as well. The CD release also featured a
couple of extra tracks ( Sad Man and Strangulate).
Hypnosis was produced by well-known “ Psycho
“ Pete Gage, who also gained fame for his work with
outfits like Restless and Screaming
Lord Sutch and distributed again by Roy
Williams’ Nervous Records .
The
band also recorded another cover version of an old Swing
tune (Route 66 ), that eventually was taken for the
3ed part of the Zorch Factor compilation album,
that also includes a solo recording of Simon Brand,
entitled Broken Home.
The
band was still in great demand as a live act and their
performances at main events like the Hemsby Weekender or
the Wreckin Festival in Belgium only prove my point. But
after one of these gigs in Amsterdam ( Holland ) Simon
Crowfoot decided –after he had met a Dutch
girl-to stay in the Netherlands. With the rest of the band
located in the UK, Simon Brand and Kevin
Haynes finally made the decision to replace him
with Vince Mildren and the new formed trio
started to gig again, including another tour on the
continent in 1992.
In
1993 Simon Brand decided to went to
Vermont, USA to work and forbear from his own personal
problems, most of them brought about by the relationship
with his (ex-) wife. His US stint also forced the band for
a break. Simon eventually moved back to Bristol in
early 1994 and he and Kevin Haynes started
to make plans for the Torment reunion, future releases and
tours. But his parents finally admitted Simon Brand
into a hospital while suffering another depression in the
same year. He never left this place again as he eventually
committed suicide in the grounds of the hospital. Simon
Brand´s untimely death also turned out to be the
abrupt end of the band.
The
musical legacy of Torment has loads of more
to tender than just four brilliant full length albums and
the excellent Mystery Men EP, which were all
recorded in a period of less than five years. The
band offers an alternative route through the world of
Psychobilly avoiding lyrical or musical stereotypes,
always keen to experiment and the trio also was never
afraid to give new technologies a try. Their unique sound,
individuality and forward looking attitude turned the band
into one of the most influential , interesting and best
bands that ever emerged from the 80´s Psychobilly
revolution. Undeniable unforgettable!
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