TORA! TORA! TORA!
Los Angeles, California, United States
Music
Press
"Definitely no frills punk rock. No bullshit rock star leads, just raw."
-OCPunk.com - OCPunk.com
Tora! Tora! Tora!, not to be mistaken with the movie, is a band I think has lived up to their name for being unpredictable and not afraid to explore new ways of making music. When I first saw them live at an all ages show and first heard their music, they could have fooled me for being a punk band, but after doing an interview with them and listening to their latest version of "Mystery", I was surprised at how far they've matured in their music making talent. The new recording of "Mystery" doesn't have that slow, soft intro which makes the whole song experience more upbeat and energetic than the previous version. Their newest song "Dead By Dawn" charters new waters of the music universe by introducing sophisticated solos to the classic hardcore punk rock sound which doesn't make it sound like anything that I've heard. The easiest way to describe that song would be it sounds like hardcore punk, punk rock, rock, pop, and metal at the same time, but in an organized medley that you can rock out to. - Jack@Punk Rock Demo Radio
Discography
"Mystery" single
"Treasures & Prizes" EP
Photos
Bio
Tora! Tora! Tora! are the torch bearers for eclectic, slacker punk. They pick up the mantle dropped by the Replacements and they run it through an obstacle course of influences ranging from classic punk and power pop, 80’s college rock, hardcore, metal, 60’s psyche/garage rock and whatever the fuck else they feel like trying to shove in to the blender.
Weird metaphors about obstacle courses and blenders aside, Tora! Tora! Tora! are a group of hardworking guys from Southern California that hail from parts as far away from each other as San Clemente and Culver City. The members got their start wading through the ripples of the dying so-cal punk scene. T3 songwriter/frontman Ryan Mudd sang for SOS Records act Ryan Mudd and The Stuff with label-mates the likes of The Adicts and The Exploited, while Matt Nolan played bass for south orange county bruisers KBH. After solidifying a line-up with the multi-talented, Native American Ryan Squirrell on drums, they played 100’s of shows at all the likely Punk Rock dives and anywhere else they could get a stage and some power.
Early shows were chaotic affairs sometimes ending in fights-Most notably a rumble in front of the Knitting Factory with a pretentious Hollywood band that started with the tossing back and forth of a PB+J sandwich. Tora! Tora! Tora! began building a reputation not only for a band that could bring the energy live, but also who stepped out of the strict confines of what is now considered “Punk”.
After completing most of the tracking for the Treasures and Prizes EP in 2009 the band hit a bump in the road. Ryan Mudd was hospitalized for severe Aplastic Anemia. Luckily, stubbornness and the advances of modern medical science won out and after Ryan had begun the road to recovery the EP was released to critical praise. Rick Hostage of respected classic punk label Hostage records explained, “there are 8 million bands that sound exactly like the Stitches, Bonecrusher, Black Flag etc. etc. etc…nobody sounds like Tora, it takes balls to lead instead of follow…
Ryan emerged in full remission a year later and our hardy man-children set out to get back their live legs and begin work on some new material. 2013 finds that plan coming to fruition as Tora! Tora! Tora! is hard at work doing pre-production for their debut full length and planning an extensive club and festival performance schedule.
Links
