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KILL EVERYONE REVIEWS PRESS RELEASE FOR KILL EVERYONE by Mike Lavella (Gearhead Magazine) As Arch Hall Jr. famously states at the beginning of The Sadist, "I have been hurt by others, and I will hurt them. I will make them suffer as I have suffered." This is the very same objective of Kill Everyone, the new release from NYC punk mainstays The Turbo A.C.'s. More than merely exploitation, like all of the best punk rock ever made this is pure social commentary, the kind that grabs you by the throat the second you hit "play" and never lets go. Here singer/guitarist Kevin Cole assumes the identity of the most disruptive elements in human society, those who seek to inflict moral insanity on the innocent. That is his objective, his twisted pleasure, but the pleasure is actually all ours. Desperate times call for desperate music, and the tracks on Kill Everyone create thee soundtrack for a pre-apocalyptic civilization headed straight to Hell. Embracing various psychosis and psychotic behaviors on each track is the name of the game, and along the way everything from the films of the Shaw Brothers to lines once spoken by bands as diverse as The Misfits to Three Dog Night are cleverly woven into the narrative, as nothing that helps drive this plot to it's grizzly conclusion is spared. The narrator of "Take Me Home" for instance is a man looking back on a lifetime of immoral behavior. Reflective but never repentant, his sins rise to the surface and we the listeners are totally captivated. The very act of dying itself never sounded as good as it does on "Die Tomorrow." With its impossibly catchy chorus, one can easily imagine the sea of fist-pumping fans at future Turbo A.C.'s shows, celebrating their own mortality. Tempos change throughout these seventeen stellar tracks, but no good genre is left behind. Straight up hardcore tracks like "Ancient Chinese Secret" contentedly co-exist with rockers like “Emergency Room” and "Live Fast Die Slow," and if The Ventures ever returned as zombies in need of a soundtrack for killing those that did them in, the instrumental "Sonora" would fill that bill nicely. But nowhere does entire concept come together as brilliantly on the title track. "Kill Everyone" is simultaneously creepy and seductive, in the fine tradition of the best serial killers in the business. If the line, "Today I skipped my medicine, you're shit outta luck" isn't the ultimate statement on today's medicated society, then I don't know what is. Listening to it now, I can easily visualize the slow motion slaughter montage it would be perfect for in the next Quentin Tarantino movie, if there was any justice at all in this God forsaken world. Generally a group of songs played with so much swagger (read: cockiness) and attitude might make the casual listener think 'these guys are smug' - but long time fans will rejoice in the absolute victory that is Kill Everyone, while the uninitiated will simply be awestruck. I know of what I speak, I've hung on every note this band has played since their debut was released in 1996, now fully a generation ago in rock and roll terms, and this is far and away their finest effort. Simply put, if any band has ever put more energy into a record than the Turbo A.C.'s have here, I've yet to hear it. - Mike LaVella AVENUE X REVIEWS The Turbo A.C.'s "Avenue X" 4 out of 5 stars (Alternative Press) A decade into their career, The Turbo A.C.'s have been called lots of things by incorporating Bay Area stylings into NYC punk rock. Avenue X is by far their best recording to date, smacking the listener around in the well worn dark alleys still crusty with the puke and blood of street punk's heroes and villans. Shades of Dead Kennedys' tremolo shiver throughout, while a song like "C-Ya" burns fast down a road cleared by The Rolling Stones when they still mattered. "Fistful of Fury" is an instant classic anthem with longing lyrics sung in four different languages. Extra props go for the cover of Suicidal Tendencies "I Want More" Reviewed by: Michael Coyle for Alternative Press The Turbo A.C.'s "Avenue X" The Turbo A.C.'s are back with the album that we all hoped they would finally release. This, my friend, is driving music. Every time I hear this, I want to tell my boss to fuck off, get in my '51 coupe, and drive through the Nevada desert. Now all I have to do is get a '51 coupe, live in Nevada, and have enough dinero to allow me to tell my boss to fuck off, and I'll be set. This album doesn't purr. It roars. On their fifth album, the Turbo's haven't changed their formula at all. You're still getting the brand of punk rock, greased up, rockabillied rock and roll that they've had for years. And I'm glad they haven't changed. Except for 2001's pretty dull "Fuel for Life," they've consistently put out solid albums. "Avenue X" is just better. It rock harder. It rocks dirtier. It just rocks more. Don't expect any wimpy ballads here. When you put this album on, you get treated to 14 badass songs in a row. On "C-YA" we're treated to the best riff that Dick Dale never wrote. "Fistful of Fury" pays homage to Ennio Morricone's spaghetti western soundtracks. But this is no tribute album. This is a band that wears its influences on their tattooed sleeves, and they ain't ashamed to show them off. I may not have a '51 coupe, and I may not live anywhere near Nevada, but a guy can daydream. I already have the soundtrack. On second thought, maybe I will quit my job after all. Reviewed by: Josh Goldfarb for lifeinabungalo.com THE TURBO A.C.'S Avenue X New Yawk punksters, Turbo A.C's are at it again with a fist full of Dick Dale-inspired surf-punk rock. Avenue X must be their fifth record, second with Gearhead and serves up adrenaline soaked power chords, whiplash bass and hypersonic drums. True, there are only three tattooed warriors but they make enough noise for a whole gang of hoodlums. Check out the late-night western "Fistful of Fury" delivered Clint Eastwood style with a six-string set of notes to the head. In keeping with the theme are "Do You Feel Lucky?" and the piano-tinged "Magic Bullets" - a track that will actually give ya chills. Deep breath! This is the kind of band one would expect to see ripping the roof off CBGBs every night. And what about that cover? Known for their provocative use of a certain micro-skirted female in compromising positions for cover art, this one has the muscle in the hands of our favorite heroine, in the form of an old-school Tommy Gun. Ramones-fueled "Knifefight" paces itself with the more Rolling Stone-style "Turbonaut" then the band jumps into the fire with the jittering "Anthem Of United Humanity" which has a chorus we can't print here. The surf-guitar softens the blow on the melodic "C-Ya" and rounds out the piercing "Incognito." It also brings a lot of charm to psuedo-ballad "I Want More". Is that a flute in "No Time?" Absolutely, and the texture works with the slam of the guitars to perfection. Using a number of sound clips to introduce several of the record's tunes, the band stick to execution-style "turbo" punk to maximum effect. for thecutting-edge.net The Turbo ACs Avenue X Well, folks, New York's finest surf-guitar injected, Motorhead-fueled Punk Rock band is back and they've certainly outdone themselves this time around. Very few bands have the gusto or the talent to continually release good material on a consistent basis, but the Turbos somehow do it every time, each album being leagues ahead of the one before it. Avenue X is the band's strongest material to date and, not surprisingly, they produced it themselves. As Kevin Cole said (I'm paraphrasing here): "We just wanted the freedom and control to do what we've always wanted to do." It worked, fellas. The album opens with the title track. For the first couple of seconds, we're tricked by some lo-fi production, then, suddenly, that classic full Turbo ACs sound kicks in and we're on a subway headed for Avenue X. The song is a tribute to the film The Warriors from whence the band got their moniker (there's a skinhead gang with a similar name). "Gotta get to Avenue X," yells guitarist/vocalist Kevin Cole to the "Whoa!" of bassist Michael Dolan and drummer Kevin Prunty, echoing the mantra of the Warriors, a street-gang on the run, framed for a murder they didn't commit. Then we cannonball into the fury of a "Knifefight", not sure which end is up or out before we're sliced to pieces, but just as quickly A Sergio Leone-type riff builds to the frantic beat of the Turbo ACs and "Fistful of Fury" explodes. It tells a story that is one part Bruce Lee Kung Fu movie, one part Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Western, and two equal parts David Carradine in Kung Fu. It could also be a surrealist take on touring in a Rock'n'Roll band. Next we have a musical commercial for the Turbo ACs Fuck You Asshole Hotline 1(800)EAT-SHIT. This song speaks for itself. In "Do You Feel Lucky?" Kevin Cole asks the eternal Dirty Harry question and quotes the Ramones while philosophically applying both to everyday dilemmas. "Turbonaut" examines the life of a Turbo AC a life raging at breakneck speed, not caring what stands in the way. The "Anthem of United Humanity" begins with a quote from Repo Man and is a Motorhead-driven, surf-guitar onslaught to a mantra we all know very well. And now we have the centerpiece of the album and my favorite track. "Magic Bullets" is kick started by piano, then propelled by a killer lead into an equally killer riff that brings about the confusion and insanity of the JFK Assassination for which it's named. Here, everything gels perfectly, Kevin Cole's surf leads into his mean riffs with Michael Dolan's bass pounding in unison to Kevin Prunty's 4/4-stop/start drumming. Taxi Driver is the driving (excuse the pun) inspiration behind "Real Rain", "I'll be waiting patiently / For a real rain to come wash the scum off the streets." We're back to frantic Motorhead beats in the paranoiac anthem, "C-Ya", which slows down in the middle enough for Kevin Cole to throw in some blaring surf soloing before returning to the Lemmy pulse. "No Time" continues with the paranoia theme, only this time it's directed at superstitious Armageddonists for which Mr. Cole has no time. In "Looking For Trouble", the Turbos explore the "don't try to run/and don't look back" ethos of adolescence. "Had a little money in my pocket for a minute, IT'S GONE!" The frustration of blue-collar ethos, and the entire "working-man's band" idea behind the Turbo ACs blares in "I Want More": "Working like a maniac/Give myself a heart attack/For a job that pays minimum wage." Here, here, my fellow turbonauts; I know it all too well. So there you go, the latest and (so far) greatest Turbo ACs album through the eyes of yours truly. Maybe when you buy the disc, you'll analyze the songs and you'll think I'm completely off my rocker. You're probably right, but that's what makes the Turbos' songs so great, they remain open to interpretation, allowing each song to connect with each listener in a different way. That's what the Turbos are about, really, connection. And connection leads to unity, but not the narrow-minded unity of thugs, it's the unison of working people who eat shit everyday for little or no reward only to be shat upon again by politicians/media/those in a higher tax bracket; and through the Turbo ACs, these "proles" (to use an "Orwellian" term) can unite, at least temporarily, and for a night, or for 40 minutes, they can forget life's miseries and get into something real, tangible, so much more alive than the dreadful boredom of their everyday existence. I know from experience, trust me , I live it every day. And at the end of the day I can come home and blast the Turbo ACs and drink my poison and forget about all the shit I ate that day and not give a fuck about tomorrow, which is what we'd all like, secretly, but very few of us have the balls to admit it or even to take a step in that direction. For that we have the Turbo ACs. Thanks guys. Review by Chuck Foster (NY Waste) |
