Notably, a few things happened in the music world during the
\nsecond week of September. Obituaries aside, I’ll have to say that
\nthe event topping my list was the long awaited launch of
\nTurbonegro’s North American club tour in Washington, D.C. and
\nBaltimore. Rather than hammer away on a detailed review of these
\ngigs, from which I was fortunate enough to emerge in a battered,
\nbruised, and undoubtedly pleased state, I’m choosing to get a few
\nthings off my chest as I expand on an observation I was able to
\ntake in at both shows. (Cover your ears, everyone!)<\/p>\n
Listen up, folks! Turbonegro has a history that dates much
\nfurther back in time than this year’s
\nScandinavian Leather<\/i> release and their previous punk n’ roll
\nclassic,
\nApocalypse Dudes<\/i>!<\/p>\n
The reason I feel compelled to say this is due to the blank
\nlooks I saw on most people’s faces when the band performed a
\nhandful of tracks off 1997’s
\nAss Cobra<\/i> effort – the band’s third full length LP.
\nTurbonegro’s history is a rich one and 1997 was truly the pivotal
\nyear for the band in gaining the traction to eventually, albeit
\nimprobably, win Kerrang magazine’s, 2003 “Spirit of Independence”
\naward last month.<\/p>\n
\nAss Cobra<\/i> was the album that came to define the true
\nembodiment of what death punk really means. I mean, to the masses
\nthat attended these sold-out shows and sung every word to the
\nApocalypse Dudes<\/i> classic “Get it On” where vocalist Hank von
\nHelvete chants, “Gimme death punk baby,” I’m afraid that the true
\nmeaning of death punk was lost on most people. All that song really
\naccomplishes with that lyric is a cheeky reference back to the
\nband’s previous days when their homosexual lyrics were actually
\ncold and calculating rather than anthemic (although brilliant)
\nspoofs on the same subject matter.<\/p>\n
The defining example of death punk on
\nAss Cobra<\/i> is strictly attitudinal in its purest form. For
\nstarters, “The Midnight NAMBLA” segues into the sound of a child
\nfearfully crying while cornered by the “nemesis of the toddler.”
\nOne can’t help but be instinctively shocked. Incidentally, I played
\nthis song for a buddy of mine for the first time on the drive to
\nthe D.C. gig and he summed it up by saying, “That’s just wrong.”
\nI’ve been listening to this album since 1999 and frankly, I still
\nsay the same thing.<\/p>\n
While building a chorus around taking showers in Auschwitz,
\n“Deathtime” provides more lyrical shocks which are truthfully unfit
\nto print here. The lyrics offer up other surefire means for death
\nincluding performing homosexual acts in East Africa. Vocally, the
\nlyrics are delivered in a desperate fashion and instrumentally, Pal
\nPot Pamparius and Rune Rebellion’s guitars deliver conviction by
\nway of a friction-filled feedback assault when paired with the
\npounding bass line of Bingo Calmeyer.<\/p>\n
Troubling as those thoughts may be, Turbonegro threaten to
\nexterminate the skateboard kids they despise with the fumigating
\nagent, Zyklon-B, in the song “Turbonegro Hate the Kids” while
\nadditionally depicting efforts of running from a child murderer by
\nthe name of Bad Mongo in a track that goes by the same name.<\/p>\n
With these examples, I do hesitate to discount the vibe on
\nAss Cobra<\/i> as anything resembling a half-baked attempt at
\nshock rock. Using Zyklon-B in a song strays from such normal
\nsensibility. The menacing vocals throughout the album effectively
\nhaunt one’s soul.<\/p>\n
With warped humor, Hank von Helvete also finds time to give
\nAmerican punk rock boys a scolding for going out with the new-wave
\nhooker girls (as opposed to punk rock girls) in a 50-second rant as
\nhe introduces a “Norwegian folk song” by threatening death to any
\nNorwegian punk rocker contemplating similar activity. The track,
\n“Imorgen Skal Eg Daue” is forgettable but Hank’s rant is as close
\nto anything that might be described as lighthearted on this
\nalbum.<\/p>\n
Notwithstanding the tonal despair that abounds on
\nAss Cobra<\/i>, the song “Denim Demon” is Turbonegro at their
\nbest in either yesterday’s terms or the ones that define today’s
\nmore modern rock sounds found on
\nScandinavian Leather<\/i>. Taking the lyrics at face value for
\nwhat the band represents, the song is crafted in a way that ensures
\nit will be a continued legitimate hit as the band continues to
\nbuild their catalog. Where “I Got Erection” garners the most
\nattention as the recognizable track on
\nAss Cobra<\/i>, it’s truthfully too simple and silly a song for
\nthe band to hang their hat on.<\/p>\n
So anyways, while the actions of many fans at the Turbonegro
\nshows seemed forced when the
\nAss Cobra<\/i> tracks were performed this past weekend, I’ll be
\nthe first to confess that the fact that over 800 people attended
\nthese two shows was a vast improvement over the people that
\nwitnessed their comeback tour as openers for Queens of the Stone
\nAge in March of this year. At that time, those folks just didn’t
\nget it from the two shows I then witnessed as a series of catcalls
\nand projectiles were forcibly aimed at the band.<\/p>\n
The darkness which is known as Turbonegro is spreading these
\ndays; folks just need to be prepared to explore the band’s roots to
\nrealize that the band’s breakthrough started from the deep and
\ndisturbing underground. The songs and imagery are surely not for
\neveryone but with
\nAss Cobra<\/i>, Turbonegro has outdone anything “shocking” that
\nthe once-acclaimed Marilyn Manson or 2 Live Crew ever
\nattempted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":26482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6829],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-37718","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-turbonegro","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37718"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}