TURBOSNAKE – Cold Blooded +3 (2021)

Hailing from London, Ontario, Canada, TURBOSNAKE are here to bring back the fun, carefree rock and roll / glam / hair metal of 1987 to these 2021 somber days. Their music is cliched, formulaic (and they are proud of it) but darn catchy and very well done.
OK, Turbosnake‘s ”Cold Blooded” probably won’t change the world in any way and as has been the norm in the hard rock universe the past 20 years, will more than likely only go down as a guilty nostalgic pleasure for a few folks. However, we sincerely got to say, for the many in need of some great rock and roll to lift the spirits, take the soul back to better days, or even just escape for a while, man this is a great little package of joy.
All tracks have something to offer and I appreciate the diversity found in many of the songs. Yes, it’s all about a hooky riff, anthemic choruses and easy melodies, but that’s what fun rock n’ roll is all about.

Turbosnake’s bombastic Arena Rock adventure began as a project in April of 2020 when founder Eric Roelofson was bored with the norm and decided to begin writing some songs. The tunes were born from Eric’s deep-seeded love of classic Hair Metal, Big hooks, heavy guitar and melody-driven runs injected with some glitz and glam.
He approached his friend Ryan Thomas to see if he wanted to write some lyrics to it and sing something on it. Ryan was influenced heavily by the classic screamers of the day, Sebastian Bach and Axl Rose, to name a few and he states his deep passion for the genre “Couldn’t get enough of the genre and just never got out of it.”
The wheels for a venomous, injection of pure, melodic, ’80s hard rock were put into motion and Turbosnake began their plan to be the torch that lights Arena Rock’s assault on the 21st century.

The album opens with ‘Turbo Lovers’, a fun little 2:46 ditty that’s short and to the point. No ground breaking lyrics here, but certainly lots of fun. Track 2 continues the party vibe with ‘Gas, Grass, or Ass’, a fun sing-along song made for listening while driving fast. This song would go down like a storm if performed live.
Then something completely unexpected happens. Track 3 ‘Road Warrior‘ is a full-on metal track. Imagine listening to a band that has a Poison-type vibe and suddenly transitioning to a Slave To The Grind-era Skid Row track. There’s also a great change up in the middle of the song. Rather than a traditional guitar solo, in its place, the band kicks into a heavy groove that will practically command you to bang your head.

‘Lightning In A Bottle‘ throws in a great keyboard melody for some mid-tempo melodic awesomeness. Even though lead singer Ryan Thomas sings at a slightly higher octave than is needed for the song, it’s still a great track and different from anything else on the album, while still being as catchy as the previous tracks.
‘Drinkin Tunes’ mixes in some blues and country influences that is similar to something Cinderella or The Quireboys would perform and they pull it off with ease.
Then ‘Pit Viper’ utilizes European-style hard rock idioms to construct another type of catchy melody.

Turbosnake released a 3-track a EP last year, and 3 very good songs in this style too. ‘One Woman Wrecking Crew’ hits pretty hard, with a Mötley Crüe-inspired break before Thomas jumps in with snotty vocals that you got to feel are in at least a small way, inspired by Vince Neil with a tiny tap from Bret Michaels. Fans of classic Crüe and early Poison I’d think would very much dig this and to top it off, Turbosnake bring something you’d never find with those bands, cool dual lead guitars.

Falling in line closer to post-millennium ’80s-inspired melodic rock, “Dogfight (The Fight of Your Life)” is a slamming blast of hard rock with even more great dual guitar topped with some great sincere lead and backing vocals. Think hard rock training montage music for a Rocky movie (or even Top Gun) and I don’t mean in a campy parody way.
Eighties rock fans all know that you can’t have a cool hair metal release without that mandatory power ballad and Turbosnake don’t disappoint with ‘When Love Comes Around’, a catchy song that tosses in everything we dig about ’80s love songs including the kitchen sinks of Night Ranger, Poison, Bon Jovi, and a few more.

Turbosnake’s ”Cold Blooded” won’t be up for a Pulitzer anytime soon, but nothing within the hair metal scene ever is. They stick closely to what make the genre so beloved by many. It’s the type of album you can throw on and bang your head to when you want mindless entertainment and strong glam metal hooks.
If you’re into ’80s hair / glam metal, this is definitely an album that needs to be heard.
Highly Recommended

 

01 – Turbo Lovers
02 – Gas, Grass, or Ass
03 – Road Warrior
04 – Lightning In A Bottle
05 – Drinkin Tunes
06 – Pit Viper
07 – One Woman Wrecking Crew
08 – Dogfight (The Fight of Your Life)
09 – When Love Comes Alive

Ryan Thomas – vocals
Andrew Tapley – lead guitar
Grant Rushton – rhythm guitar
Eric Roelofson – bass
Greg Keegan – drums

 

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darksiderecords.com/UPC/762183620429