Turbosnake – Cold Blooded
RFL Records
Release Date: 30/07/2021
Running Time: 21:33
Review by Wallace Magri
8.5/10
I was a big fan of Hair Metal, back in the 80’s. It was in 1985 when I bought “Out of the Cellar”, from Ratt, and suddenly I was dragged into all the L.A.’s Sunset Strip Scene bands, specially the Glam/Sleaze Metal ones – W.A.S.P., L.A. Guns, Faster Pussycat, Mötley Crüe, Guns n Roses, Poison, etc – mostly due to their ‘fuck you attitude’. Even though they were dressing and looking like chicks, that combination of cross-dressing, and glitter looks, aligned to unpretentious, right in your face sleaze/punk 3 minutes songs, seemed pretty impressive to me.
Personally, I’d had enough of Hair Metal music by the time bands like Firehouse, Trixter and Nelson invaded MTV’s video heavy rotation broadcasts. It’s not that I hated them, but they didn’t have the sleaze dirty balls, and outrageous attitude, to keep things going through the 90’s. Everything became too catchy and overly palatable, designed for the average audience’s consumption. And, unfortunately, the bands from the 80’s couldn’t handle their own devices, succumbing themselves thanks to internal fights and drug addictions, under the expanse of their dubious musical direction at that time.
Basically, what is heard on Ontario, Canada based Turbonsake’s new EP, “Cold Blooded”, is exactly a revival of that 80’s Hair Metal era. It’s clear right from the opening track, ‘Turbo Lovers’, which has a Sleaze Metal/Punk conduction, that reminded me a lot of the songs from Faster Pussycat’s debut album, and also “Appetite for Destruction” (the Sleaze Metal album from Guns n Roses). 2minutes and 46 seconds, that’s all Turbonsake need to shove their credentials right in our faces!
If you possibly have any doubt over Turbonsnake’s intentions, I think that a song called ‘Gas, Grass or Ass’ makes their point very clear, right? I even assume that you can manage a blind singing of that song’s chorus by yourself, completing the next verse: ‘Gas, grass or ass…’ (…nobody rides for free…). If it’s some Poison, weekend buzz, celebration music that you’re looking for, that is exactly what you get here!
Of course, you also have the Arena Rock style catchy and melodic song, ‘Lightning in a Bottle’, that sounds pretty honest to me. I mean, Turbosnake actually seem to enjoy what they’re playing here and, taking a look at the band’s press release, they are all very experienced musicians – all of them have been around for a while, playing with Hair Metal bands, whether it be their own songs, or cover songs from the 80’s bands (anyway, you can barely tell the difference between them…).
Also, according to the press release, Turbonsnake are about to hit the road and play their music live –a Glam Era extravaganza, complete with spandex, glitter and debauchery – only for a night, for good time sake. That seem a very appealing proposal, especially after all that we’ve been through in these crazy times. I think that everybody deserves to hang out all night long with no limits!
Sometimes music is just about having fun, drinking a beer, getting in trouble and laughing our asses off, eventually reminding us that the 80’s Hair Metal excesses had its charm.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Turbo Lovers
02. Gas, Grass or Ass
03. Road Warrior
04. Lightning In a Bottle
05. Drinking Tunes
06. Pit Viper
LINE-UP:
Vocals – Ryan Thomas
Drums – Brendan Douglas
Guitar – Andrew Tapley
Bass – Eric Roelofsen
Guitar – Grant Rushton
LINKS:
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