Ass Cobra

Turbonegro

Sympathy for the Record Industry, 1997

http://turbonegro.com

REVIEW BY: Chris Harlow

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 09/29/2003

Notably, a few things happened in the music world during the second week of September. Obituaries aside, I'll have to say that the event topping my list was the long awaited launch of Turbonegro's North American club tour in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Rather than hammer away on a detailed review of these gigs, from which I was fortunate enough to emerge in a battered, bruised, and undoubtedly pleased state, I'm choosing to get a few things off my chest as I expand on an observation I was able to take in at both shows. (Cover your ears, everyone!)

Listen up, folks! Turbonegro has a history that dates much further back in time than this year's Scandinavian Leather release and their previous punk n' roll classic, Apocalypse Dudes!

The reason I feel compelled to say this is due to the blank looks I saw on most people's faces when the band performed a handful of tracks off 1997's Ass Cobra effort - the band's third full length LP. Turbonegro's history is a rich one and 1997 was truly the pivotal year for the band in gaining the traction to eventually, albeit improbably, win Kerrang magazine's, 2003 "Spirit of Independence" award last month.

Ass Cobra was the album that came to define the true embodiment of what death punk really means. I mean, to the masses that attended these sold-out shows and sung every word to the Apocalypse Dudes classic "Get it On" where vocalist Hank von Helvete chants, "Gimme death punk baby," I'm afraid that the true meaning of death punk was lost on most people. All that song really accomplishes with that lyric is a cheeky reference back to the band's previous days when their homosexual lyrics were actually cold and calculating rather than anthemic (although brilliant) spoofs on the same subject matter.

The defining example of death punk on Ass Cobra is strictly attitudinal in its purest form. For starters, "The Midnight NAMBLA" segues into the sound of a child fearfully crying while cornered by the "nemesis of the toddler." One can't help but be instinctively shocked. Incidentally, I played this song for a buddy of mine for the first time on the drive to the D.C. gig and he summed it up by saying, "That's just wrong." I've been listening to this album since 1999 and frankly, I still say the same thing.my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

While building a chorus around taking showers in Auschwitz, "Deathtime" provides more lyrical shocks which are truthfully unfit to print here. The lyrics offer up other surefire means for death including performing homosexual acts in East Africa. Vocally, the lyrics are delivered in a desperate fashion and instrumentally, Pal Pot Pamparius and Rune Rebellion's guitars deliver conviction by way of a friction-filled feedback assault when paired with the pounding bass line of Bingo Calmeyer.

Troubling as those thoughts may be, Turbonegro threaten to exterminate the skateboard kids they despise with the fumigating agent, Zyklon-B, in the song "Turbonegro Hate the Kids" while additionally depicting efforts of running from a child murderer by the name of Bad Mongo in a track that goes by the same name.

With these examples, I do hesitate to discount the vibe on Ass Cobra as anything resembling a half-baked attempt at shock rock. Using Zyklon-B in a song strays from such normal sensibility. The menacing vocals throughout the album effectively haunt one's soul.

With warped humor, Hank von Helvete also finds time to give American punk rock boys a scolding for going out with the new-wave hooker girls (as opposed to punk rock girls) in a 50-second rant as he introduces a "Norwegian folk song" by threatening death to any Norwegian punk rocker contemplating similar activity. The track, "Imorgen Skal Eg Daue" is forgettable but Hank's rant is as close to anything that might be described as lighthearted on this album.

Notwithstanding the tonal despair that abounds on Ass Cobra, the song "Denim Demon" is Turbonegro at their best in either yesterday's terms or the ones that define today's more modern rock sounds found on Scandinavian Leather. Taking the lyrics at face value for what the band represents, the song is crafted in a way that ensures it will be a continued legitimate hit as the band continues to build their catalog. Where "I Got Erection" garners the most attention as the recognizable track on Ass Cobra, it's truthfully too simple and silly a song for the band to hang their hat on.

So anyways, while the actions of many fans at the Turbonegro shows seemed forced when the Ass Cobra tracks were performed this past weekend, I'll be the first to confess that the fact that over 800 people attended these two shows was a vast improvement over the people that witnessed their comeback tour as openers for Queens of the Stone Age in March of this year. At that time, those folks just didn't get it from the two shows I then witnessed as a series of catcalls and projectiles were forcibly aimed at the band.

The darkness which is known as Turbonegro is spreading these days; folks just need to be prepared to explore the band's roots to realize that the band's breakthrough started from the deep and disturbing underground. The songs and imagery are surely not for everyone but with Ass Cobra, Turbonegro has outdone anything "shocking" that the once-acclaimed Marilyn Manson or 2 Live Crew ever attempted.

Rating: A-

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© 2003 Chris Harlow and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Sympathy for the Record Industry, and is used for informational purposes only.