Tweak

”Tweak” will make you feel like you can fly. Their fifth and latest self titled release, represents a massive step forward for a band that has already achieved so much success in their home country. The first track on the EP, “Catch the Wind” virtually knocks the wind out of you as it rips into an attack of vicious intro riffing, and the disc is nothing but fire and fury for the next twenty five minutes...

Chris Brink and Dylan Belton together with brothers Garth and Brendan Barnes, complete the line up for this power-pop band originating from Johannesburg, South Africa. During their almost 7 years of existence, Tweak have exploded from a high-school-talent-show-dare-band, into a formidable rock act that managed to independently achieve Gold status in a country with virtually no demographic for Rock music.

After listening to their new disc, it’s not hard to understand how they managed to gather their fanatical army of followers. I have no doubt that their allegiance will be solidified forever when they lay ears on this ferocious little gem. 'We approached the song writing differently on this one,' explains front man Garth, 'We took the time to experiment, collaborate and push ourselves to our musical and lyrical limits. After 4 releases, it feels like we're finally making the music we were meant to make.’

The track “Catch the wind” tells the story of the bands’ leap into the unknown as they uprooted their lives to follow a passion. “Fallen” is a faultless ballad portraying the struggle to come to terms with exactly what it is we are trying be on this earth. All in all, it's a powerful mix of dark melody, biting guitars, soul-felt vocals and an airtight rhythm section that left me desperately skipping for a hidden track.

Tweak have been on the road in South Africa for almost 4 years, headlining major festivals like Woodstock SA and Oppikoppi and selling out countless shows in between. Still, they remained hidden from the rest of the world until recent successful tours to the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Holland and Australia (where they received 4 K's from Kerrang Australia), prompted the quartet to sell their belongings and move to London. 'It would have been easy to stay back home and carry on doing what we've been doing, but we needed to grow and to know that we can hack it next to the best in the world! We're all 100% committed to the band and to music; this was a natural progression for us' Comments Chris.

Having released their previous albums independently with distribution through BMG Africa, the band are now shopping for a label to take them forward in the UK and the rest of the world. From what I've heard on the EP and seen in the multimedia section, it won’t be long before this very important secret is out across the globe. Tweak are undoubtedly the most exciting find of the year, with a near perfect blend of melody and technicality, they will be hard to top in 2006.