Party Animals

Party Animals

Turbonegro

Burning Heart Records, 2005

REVIEW BY: Chris Harlow

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 05/19/2005

With 2003's Scandinavian Leather settling the inevitable question aboutTurbonegro's ability to maneuver past cult hero status, the titleof this month's release -- Party Animals -- lends the nitwitted notion that the bandfeels their previous effort was the blue ribbon achievement to whatis largely a superb catalog of full-length recordings. I can't sayI agree, as Scandinavian Leather was neither the shocking nor humoroussuperior of the four Turbonegro albums preceding it. Truthfully, Inow find Scandinavian Leather packing the same punch as a lukewarmcup of decaffeinated coffee.

But, with that album spawning a new crop of fans, as evidencedby the countless backing tracks MTV has given the band on showslike Jackass, Viva la Bam, & Wild Boyz, these six Norwegians have been forced to furthercut the homosexual & NAMBLA-istic overtures framing past songscontributing to the band's legendary deathpunk heritage. Let's justsay that today's "Blow Me (Like The Wind)" is no "Rendezvous WithAnus" in both shock value and more importantly musicianship andleave it at that.

Obviously, it's sad to say that with increased public exposurecomes the heightened responsibility of conformity. Maybe that iswhat Ratt's Stephen Pearcy once meant when he sang that "NobodyRides For Free." I guess Pearcy's intent doesn't really matter as Party Animals is an album flirting with mediocrity evenmoreso than its predecessor, in being further handcuffed by thefact it has no real schtick to fall back on. To live by theschtick-sword, one must die by that same blade.

While tracks like "All My Friends Are Dead," "Babylon Forever"and "Death From Above" impress musically regardless of lyricalcontent, a track like "City Of Satan" reeks in its attempt to cop a1980s-era KISS vibe with a lot of what remains on the album failingequally to inspire. Another big reason that some of the tracks on Party Animals get really tedious is because guitarists RuneRebellion and Knut Schreiner (aka Euroboy) change their guitartuning into more of an obvious pop flavor such as what is found onthe track "Stay Free."