Turbo - Broke & Ugly (Own Label)

Canada’s Turbo label their music Nitro-Rock; On the evidence of the submitted album, Broke & Ugly, it would seem that Nitro rock is in fact an almighty mashup of styles, all rendered at high speed and with little regard for personal danger (in my day we used to call that Crossover-Ed). If that description excites you, then the album is going to send you into paroxysms of joy…

But even if it didn’t send you into a swoon, I’d advise you to still give B & U a bit of eartime, as repeated listens reveal much to enjoy. The one-two punch that arrives in the middle of the album in the shape of Scorpio Garbage Fire and Pissjugs and Rattlesnakes is pretty damn good, with they key point of difference being the vocals of Evan Frizzle, adds an almost Danko Jonesish feel that certainly adds value to what might otherwise be easy to dismiss as knockabout thrash n’bash.

That said, the band is insanely tight, with Frizzle and fellow six stringer Lindsey Dicks really giving it some violence riff wise and soloing like their lives depended on it. Similarly, the rhythm section of Sylvain Coderre (d) and Henry MacDonald take no prisoners and submit to no-one in their ability to hold things together at high velocity. Very impressive.

As we get deeper into the twenty first century, bands are running out of ways to repackage, remake and remodel, so the freshness with which Turbo approach the task in hand has to be applauded. This is fun to listen to – and it certainly sounds like the band had fun getting the album down, and sometimes a bit of joie de vivre is all any of us need. But when you are able to mix that in with a killer technique and a sharp ear for a metal tune well, good times await!