|
ALIVE 0059
CD / LP (color ltd.)
Peaked
at #129 on the CMJ 200 |
|
Photo by Theresa K
|
An unslicked back
side project here from two of Boston's Kings of Nuthin' the Turpentine
Brothers are an aptly named trio (alright one's a sister, but
not apt in that sense) spilling caustically crooned cartilage
crushing blues sewage catastrophes down your drains, in your
drinks, in your fucking tap water, soaking your cigarettes with
the smoke of a thousand red-eyed nights and swathing your soul
in the swampy residue of the rat infested alleys and gutters
littering the sideways and byways of wherever the hell it was
you said you came from. Scorchin' your skin clean off with the
acrid plumes of 'People Are Talkin' - a putdown of shallow scenesters
everywhere, I second that, with the brilliantly acerbic Costello-isms
of 'You say one thing but we both know that you mean another
/ It's too bad that your two faces can't meet each other' about
those types that spend their times 'talking so much shit to make
up for knowing nothing' - and 'Somethin's Not Right', the records
initial anger and strident assault, at first listen something
like Thee Hypnotics fighting The Wedding Present for the methedrine,
cools slightly in the first half but only concentrates it's energy
elsewhere and shape-shifts into an alleycat prowling, malevolent
staring glacial eyed sea storm of crashing crescendos, vocalist/guitarist
Justin shrouded in voodoo velvet reverb in the city smoke afloat
on waves, ripples, swirls and whirlpools of Hammer Horror fairground
organ grinds, in turn propelled by Jerry Nolan on a Harley drumming.
Curtis Mayfield's 'Fool For You' is a tumultuous pyroclastic
ash flow waltz that walks hand in hand through the devastation
and debris with 'I Wanna Be Close', calmly cranked out in an
evil Jim Morrison / Nick Cave croon, crooked grin, leering eyes
and jaunty cigarette dangling, angled just so. The end of church
sermon 'One Man' also sounds like a repentant Nick Cave lighting
candles, a slow bluesy crawl through closets and closed doors,
cold, haunting and armed to the teeth with ice pick guitars.
It's a sound definitely of the city, so it slices images and
familiar fast-forward snippets of earlier heroes through your
skull, namely Iggy and Lou Reed, especially in the cracked, reptilian
rasp and lazy drawl, though it's better by far than those two,
who rest on myth alone, and maybe the less out of control (therefore
far less good) Blues Explosion. The only remotely similar thing
to the two guys main line of work is the rolling train drums
on 'Wastin' Time' too so isn't something that can really be compared
for better or worse. Me, though, I guess my money will always
be on the Kings but this is more, much more than worth investigating
even if it's ultimately just for the caustic carousing half of
it. That's half a record that sucks the air out of your lungs
and replaces it with whatever the hell kinda air you need to
live through a nuclear or volcanic winter, and with the other
half making a plentiful whole of piledriving roadworks construction
site garage blues squawl. - Stu Gibson / Sleazegrinder
_________________________
|
This debut by Boston
trio (Guitar, Drums, Organ/Bass), Turpentine Brothers, rocks
with fuzz on its mind. Mixing garage rock with a little bit of
soul, the Brothers (one brother is a Sister) veer close to the
edge without ever falling over. That means they tight, or as
tight as you might expect from a band in which a couple members
started out playing Hasil Adkins covers. Covers grace We Don't
Care About Your Good Times too, and good ones: Curtis Mayfield's
"Fool for You" and a great version of the Charles Brown
classic "I Wanna Be Close." Original stompers like
"Pow-Wow" and "Wrong Night" hold up hard
next to them. Turpentine Brothers have been compared to The Doors
(for me, the kiss of death) and lumped in with the retro-garage
scene. No way. The Brothers have taken existing styles, turned
it up a notch, and seem already to have their own vision. Does
anybody remember Vision? - MusicEmissions
_________________________
|
Turpentine Brothers
have delivered a remarkable record with We Don't Care About
Your Good Times, one that feels like some great unearthed
gem: the bastard lovechild of 60's soul and Nuggets proto-punk.
Yet for all this, there's something very real going on here,
something deeply rooted but not quite revivalist. This is growth
and development in a genre that so often looks back instead of
ahead. - Whitea / Two
Fifty Nine #8 on their Top 20 of 2005
_________________________
|
Classic Rock (UK)
|
Chaz Music Rule
#1: If the album youre listening to reminds you of a twisted
50s teen dance party, keep listening, cause man, its probably
gonna be pretty damn good. Rock n Roll is still being reborn
from smoking ashes everyday. Well, maybe not everyday, but it
seems to pick its geriatric self up off the toilet every now
and then, and smoke another one out. The brothers Turpentine
offer us up twelve tracks of loose, shakin, swamp boogie. One
for each can sittin here next to me perfect. A pocketful of change
gets you in the door, the punch is spiked and the chucks are
dancin, so bring your best gal or guy along and dont stop til
the sun comes around. We Dont Care about Your Good Times (already
the defending heavyweight of this years best album title) is
the debut album from this sleazy Boston trio. It moves you in
every way possible; its a complete, awkward dance party all the
way through, with downright boogie rock and slow eye-searchin
songs. Think Greg Cartwright (and his many band incarnations
Oblivians/Reigning Sound/etc.), the Gun Club and the Cramps,
and youre warming up to their sound. One of the things that these
four bands have in common is their obvious love for old soul,
gospel and lost basement rock 45s. Were all music nerds here,
right? The Turpentines have that good down-home, soulful garage
blues thing happening (like Mr. Cartwright), a swingin, slimy
dance beat (a la the Gun Club) and the assertive, darkly reverbed
vocals akin to Lux Interior himself. The guitar of Mr. Hubbard
snakes thickly underneath more reverb and fuzz, while Mr. Brines
organ warbles jumpin and spittin out of a Leslie cabinet. Drum
knockout Tara McManus (also of Mr. Airplane Man) steadies the
boat with her heavy-bottomed beat. Altogether, its a good scummy
mess of an old rock sound. Three quarters of the album is all
originals, while the remaining quarter gives you an idea of where
theyre coming from Curtis Mayfields Fool for You, Charles Browns
I Wanna Be Close and Holland, Dozier, Hollands Loves Gone Bad.
The twist, however, is that they are all personalized and sound
like theyre being shoved out of an old, finicky blown speaker
jukebox. If you can find it, listen to the track Why Cant I Do;
its a beautifully slow one but is easily one of the albums best.
This album is definitely worth the buy if you need to add a little
swing to your step. - Chaz Martenstein / Left
Of The Dial
_________________________
|
Boston's Turpentine
Brothers (actually two brothers and a sister) rip through their
R&B-infused stompers in a breathless rush, all drums and
guitar and organ used as blunt instruments. Most of the time,
anyway; while "Wastin' Time," "People are Talkin'"
and the title song break bones and bruise kidneys, "Why
Can't I Do" and covers of Curtis Mayfield's "Fool For
You" and Charles Brown's "I Wanna Be Close" hint
at a throbbing heart, even if singer/guitarist Justin tries to
hide it under a layer of grit. One hundred percent pretension
free, We Don't Care About Your Good Times is raw, crude and primitive
in the very best way. - Michael Toland / Highbias
_________________________
|
I'm loving this
bands dirty garage groove. Max'd out with guitar, drums and an
organ straight swiped from a haunted hockey rink. These grimy
rock gems ooze! The Turpentine Brothers rock it out with oodles
of savoir faire perching them right up there with the champs
of the division! "Why Can't I Do" is a creeping rock/blues
ace, "Fool For You" a rollicking and original Curtis
Mayfield cover and a smattering of other smoky rockers makes
you eager to experience the sonic, sweaty environment of the
band live on stage... Maybe a dream lineup matching this Boston
trio along with Dead Moon and The Black Keys. - Craig Goossen
/ Culture Bunker
_________________________
|
This Boston band
melds perfectly together old-time gospel, '60s garage, '70s minimalist
punk and '80s swamp rock to deliver one of the most exciting
new releases of 2005. (...) What you get are some dark yet disturbingly
exciting masterpieces that would sound perfect in a dark, smokey
nightclub. This shit is just the way I like it, dirty, gritty,
lowdown rock'n'roll. Fave cuts: "People Are Talkin',"
"Somethin's Not Right," "Why Can't I Do,"
"Wastin' Time," and the title cut. This is magnificent.
Get this album or miss out on one of the most exciting and important
new releases of the year. - Kopper / Primordial Ooze
_________________________
|
|
The Turpentine Brothers
are not brothers but a threesome that play raw, gnarly garage
rock and roll or as their record label so adequately describes
it "garage/punk/dirtbag R&B." Hailing from Boston,
the Turpentine Brothers are being called a grittier version of
the White Stripes by some but I just listen mesmorized to their
raw rock and roll fury especially with that screeching wailing
organ going at full throttle. - The
Rock'n'roll Report
_________________________
|
It seems today that
every band either wants to be Duran Duran or The Stooges. Judging
from their debut, count The Turpentine Brothers in the latter
camp. They're a guitar/drums/organ trio creating the kind of
60's-flavored garage roick that would make Steven Van Zant's
[sic] babushka fly off in excitement. This is the record Mooney
Suzuki should've made to follow up Electric Sweat. Melodic,
ominous, and lo-fi, it's like watching a black-and-white horror
movie in the middle of the night. That vintage organ sound gives
them something akin to what the Animals and Doors had; a vibe
equal parts roadhouse and haunted house. "Wrong Night"
could've been used in a 60's crime movie with Lee Marvin ore
Steve McQueen. "Somethin's Not Right" is the kind of
kick-ass rave-up Aerosmith used to excel at, like "Rats
In The Cellar." Rock and roll could use a boost right now.
Be thankful we've got The Turpentine Brothers. - Matt Leinwohl
/ The Sentimentalist
_________________________
|
A stumbling, drunk,
angry, head bobbing good time. I really dig them. The organ is
absolutely awesome. It's somewhat revival, somewhat not. But
whatever you want to call it, it sounds right. - Brett O'Connor
/ Negatendo
_________________________
|
Even when the Boston
organ-drums-guitar trio Turpentine Brothers take on soulful R&B
songs like Curtis Mayfield's "Fool for You" and Holland/Dozier/Holland's
"Love's Gone Bad," they plow through them with a bear-like
abandon and garage-band energy. The Turps' own "Somethin's
Not Right" comes off like a trashier version of Radio Birdman,
and Zack's organ gives "Why Can't I Do" an early Animals
feel. Singer-guitarist Justin has a casually moody, unconcerned-seeming
low voice that drives the snappy folk-rocker "All the Same,"
while Mr. Airplane Man drummer Tara McManus' experience keeps
things chugging along in a hypnotic fashion. With its pinball-light
reverb and crashed-train-to-Clarksville druggy plucking, "Wrong
Night" is an electrically haunted instrumental, a cool break
on a cool debut. -Falling James / Carbon
14
_________________________
|
Hmmmm...Alive records
is Bomp's high energy division so I could expect something less
pop and more MC5, right? Heavy organ brings back some Doors memories
though I hear a lot more Hackamore Brick in the stew. The vocals
are pure post-Morrison anyway. Nice '69/'70s cusp energy tricks
here, sorta like the stuff Richard Robinson said was gonna be
the top guns of the seventies scene and he was right, in a certain
way. Amazing high-energy sound I haven't heard from a live/kicking
group in quite some time, with the right touch of "garage"
tossed in just so it doesn't go hippie on us. Drummer is actually
a Turpentine sister as well! Some tracks like "Wastin' Time"
seem to venture off towards more of a "boogie" direction
but on the whole I found these Brothers (and "sister")
to be a pretty enthralling batch. - Black2comm
_________________________
|
What a waste of
time it would be to mention The Doors or Iggy Pop at a time like
this! Tara McManus on drums, Justin Hubbard on guitar and vocals,
and Zack Brines on organ (rumored to belt out of speakers bigger
than Oprah), Turpentine Brothers stands on its own sleazy, stomping
feet. We Don't Care About Your Good Times is retrospective
defiance at its finest and most gritty. And just in time! Garage
rock could use more grit and spit. So huff the turpentine and
pay respect to a band not afraid to reinvent an exhausted sound.
Viva el dirtbag! - Angel Baker / Mesh
_________________________
|
Hell,
it was birthed at a time when raw soul action was as important
as post-Stones teen snot action proto-punk. The guitar-heavy
snot Stones teen angle has gotten worked a bunch since the original
Nuggets double LP sprung from the loins of Pan to help rescue
us all. However, Turpentine Brothers work off a tangent which
draws more from soul and R&B organ trio jazz, thus being
closer to brooding rock lanced from one of Ray Charles' boils
than the aforementioned spazz action. Their set-up and aesthetic
is culled from the garage, or more probably the panelled basement
equipped with vintage swizzle sticks and a keggerator (a small
refridgerator with a hole in the top that a tap can be inserted
through to reach the keg held within). Thankfully, the singer
has a good voice, used well, the organ's full of smog, and the
guitars chime, chisel, and bite. Look, if you can get to The
Strokes, this ain't far off, and it's twice as fun. Like all
Alive releases, it's recorded wonderfully and will have decent
distribution. So hope on board, 'kay? - Craig Regala / Lollipop
_________________________
|
It's starting to
seem like 1980 all over again with all these great garage revivalist
bands springing up, a la the Voxx, Bomp, etc. movements from
the late '70s and early '80s. The TURPINTINE [sic] BROTHERS have
one of the important elements that a lot of the modern bands
are missing--Soul. That, and a great echo chamber sound to the
CD, makes it sound like it was recorded in a cave. Having roots
deep in classic R+B as well as the classic R+R can make for some
great music and this band delivers. - Jimi Cheetah / Loud Fast
Rules Issue #2
_________________________
|
Think the Doors
meet Mooney Suzuki. Turpentine Brothers' music works so well
because the members have really done their homework on R&B,
blues and garage rock. Copying the White Stripes seems as though
it would be easy in these garage rock days; the Turpentine Brothers
avoid all the trappings of the White Stripes' sound and produce
music that sounds very pure and alive.(...) The best part of
the album is the keyboards. They sound so amazing and fit into
the mix perfectly. With the left hand on the bass and right on
the Wurlitzer, Zack Brines fills in whatever needs to be filled
in. It really really sounds like the Doors at times, but in an
updated form; the nuances of the keys provide so much depth and
grace to the music that it seems spiritual. It is garage rock
at its dirtiest; fun, loud, and a little irreverent. No moping
allowed. - Andrew Glasset / Now
On Tour
_________________________
|
Boston's Turpentine
Brothers are brazen liars. One listen to the album and it's pretty
obvious that they do care about your good times. This
stockpile of disorderly garage r&b is highlighted by the
thundering organ work of Zack Brines, but band founders Justin
Hubbard and Tara McManus round things out with such admiration
for the genre they've chosen. In addition, Hubbard's versatile
cords deliver either a menacing growl or a self-confident baritone
precisely when called for. Best served with whiskey and cigarettes.
- Paul / 75
or Less
_________________________
|
|
Kerrang (UK) |
For those who like
their rock 'n' roll filthy and unvarnished, perhaps scraped with
a putty knife off dank, Schlitz-can-littered cellar floors, fear
not: The Turpentine Brothers have absolutely no intention of
scrubbing your hands clean. Mainly, this Boston trio is interested
in turpentine's other major property: flammability. The group
features drummer Tara McManus from the garage-blues duo Mr. Airplane
Man and two players from the Kings of Nuthin', the only rockabilly
band in Beantown tough enough to lug a piano to its gigs. The
guy behind that piano, Zack Brines, switches to "Nuggets"-style
`'60s organ for this project, creating a signature sound that
oscillates between swirling and creepy. On the opener, "People
Are Talkin'," Brines' riff encompasses both, adding retro
menace to Justin Hubbard's crashing guitar chords and lyrical
tirade against gossiping two-faces. Throughout the album, Hubbard
is cucumber-cool and dangerously electric, like some standard-singing
crooner in 1966 who mistakenly wanders into a Question Mark &
the Mysterians session, is slipped drugs and decides to go along
for the ride. Even when murky - the mentally ill blues of "Why
Can't I Do" and instrumental "Wrong Night" - the
Brothers rocket out of the basement with a sound that proves
them liars: Of course they care about our good times. -Kenneth
Partridge / Hartford
Courant
_________________________
|
It seems appropriate
to craft dramatic passages about this Boston three-piece. There's
something about their mix of punk defiance, 60's soul and garage
sleaze that's so well-suited for storytelling. Their cumulated
efforts have resulted in such a sense of character, such a striking
attitude, that what may very well be a side project feels like
the most important band on the planet while the record's spinning.
Turpentine Brothers is the brainchild of guitarist Justin Hubbard
of the Kings of Nuthin' and drummer Tara McManus of Mr. Airplane
Man. While the duo started off moonlighting old country standards,
their creation soon became something comparable to Reigning Sound,
the Mystery Girls and the Deadly Snakes. Integral to their current
sound is the swirling, wild organ work of Zack Brines (a King
of Nuthin' himself). While ably filling out the band's low end
with a foreboding drone he manages to contribute striking, song-stealing
solos that push Turpentine Brothers to another level entirely.
Those that compare him to the Doors' Ray Manzarek are certainly
on the right track. The sound works so well because the band's
drawing from a far deeper and more interesting well of history
than their peers. It's easy to have a sleazy garage band that
sounds like the Stooges, but less so the vintage Stax R&B
sounds found here. This is most obvious in the album's three
covers. The first is of "Fool For You," a Curtis Mayfield
tune from his days with Chicago soul group the Impressions. Hubbard's
take is spirited and lively, but there's a tortured quality to
his vocals that make the chorus work in this context. Midway
though the record the band delivers a cut written by Texas bluesman
Charles Brown, and the distorted wall raised behind "I Wanna
Be Close" would fit well on a Black Keys record. Most strikingly,
the band turns Chris Clark's Motown standard "Love's Gone
Bad" into a stomping, sleazy garage tune. These covers all
seamlessly fit the band's lyrical themes and they rightfully
filter and interpret, rather than mimic, the artists' original
work. Speaking of originals, the Brothers' own tunes are no slough.
The album kicks off with the hard-hitting pair of "People
Are Talkin'" and "Something's Not Right" before
delving into the haunting and soulful "Why Can't I Do."
The instrumental "Wrong Night" features an earthy country
guitar, and perhaps some of the most vintage-sounding moments
on the record. The chorus to "All The Same" is fascinating,
featuring that same anti-climactic buildup that the Strokes so
often lift from Television and the Velvets. "One Man"
is a mournful tune, somewhat of a murder ballad, that closes
off with a harshly distorted guitar solo and some well placed,
gloomy trumpet. This song leads into the title track, which (quite
effectively) carries the sorrowful tone on for a few seconds
only to explode into a fast, upbeat punk song. It's a brilliant
buildup to a fantastic tune, and "We Don't Care About Your
Good Times" lets Hubbard and Brines break into a few choice
solos over McManus now raging backbeat. Considering how it's
sequenced on the record, it's a breathtaking track. Turpentine
Brothers have delivered a remarkable record with We Don't
Care About Your Good Times, one that feels like some great
unearthed gem: the bastard lovechild of 60's soul and Nuggets
proto-punk. Yet for all this, there's something very real going
on here, something deeply rooted but not quite revivalist. This
is growth and development in a genre that so often looks back
instead of ahead. - Adam / Punknews
_________________________
|
if you accept a
suggestion, throw yourself on Turpentine Brothers's "We
Don't Care about Your good times". Then, take White Stripes
records and, with all the respect, throw them away on your backdoor
field or, if you live in cosmopolitan big city hell, on the streets,
directly.. Turpentine are half Kings Of Nuthin and half Mr. Airplane
Man. They play garage revival soul punk blues, as a cross between
the best Voxx and Sympathy stuff, a cross between Solarflares
and oblivians. I Swear. This is a record that get inside your
brain. They move from black ballds (Fool For You, Wrong Night,
I wanna be close) to real garage blues tracoks (Something's not
Right). INCREDIBLE. - Mario / Rockerilla (Italy)
_________________________
|
The minute Justin
Hubbard snarls, "It's just too bad your two faces can't
be choked," you know you're in the backseat of an out-of-control
Galaxie 500 driving cross country from hell to redemption with
several liquor stops along the way. A fine entry into what I
call "grown-ass blues," where it's clear the deck is
set against you, there's no sweet hometown girl to save you,
and the only thing to do is to take as many others down with
you as you can. - Mario Villanueva / The
Link
_________________________
|
The Turpentine Brothers,
with two members of the Kings Of Nuthin and one of Mr. Airplane
Man, play a garage/punk-influenced R&B and rock n roll. The
trio does it without a bass guitar (garage, à la White
Stripes), but added a little Wurlitzer organ instead (hence the
Doors). They cover "Fool for You, originally by Curtis Mayfield
(hence the R&B/soul). The Turpentine Brothers take their
music further than most of the "modern garage bands, they
sound dirtier and raunchier, and add that little twist with the
organ. Some may say it's a gimmick, but the addition of that
organ is more than a gimmick, it's a necessity. Cool album. Score:
8 - Munchkin Music (Belgium)
_________________________
|
The Turpentine Brothers
are doing what The White Stripes can only dream about creating
loud, nasty, greasy garage rock in the spirit of the originators
of the genre, and without the half-assed art school pretensions
of Jack White. There are a few superficial similarities between
the Bros and the Stripes: both work without a bass player, and
both have a female drummer. Oh, and the fake-sibling thing, too. There are
some mighty big differences, though. Tara McManus can actually
keep time, for one thing. And how! She pummels, pounds and generally
kicks percussion ass. Nothing too subtle, but then again subtlety
is not called for. This is crushing rock & roll we're talking
about, not the Junior League's annual flute concerto. Bash it
out and move on is the name of the game. And she does, with aplomb.
Also, Justin Hubbard can sing without sounding like an asthmatic
stoat. That's a big step up right there. His vocals contain the
requisite amounts of snotty aggression and slurred consonants.
(I'm pretty sure he's pissed off about something on "Somethin's
Not Right", but I'm not sure exactly what it might be.)
And let's not overlook his appropriately down-and-dirty guitar
playing; the tone he achieves on the instrumental "Wrong
Night" is one I haven't heard on too many records made after
1966. This is a very good thing he's accomplished. And then there's
the band's secret weapon, the element that puts them head and
shoulders above the vast majority of combos plowing the same
field namely, the wicked keyboard stylings of one Zack
Brines. Oh my goodness, what a difference a little Wurlitzer
makes! The left-hand keyboard bass fills out the bottom end magnificently,
leaving Hubbard free to focus on six-string freak-outs and trashy
chording, while the right hand makes with the swirling counterpoints
and carnival/roller rink solos. It's everything that worked about
Ray Manzarek's sound, only scaled back a bit and without Morrison
spewing ostentatious, dime-store Freudian/literary eyewash all
over the top of everything. Yay! (...) The Turpentine Brothers
may claim that they don't care about our good times, but if that
were really the case they wouldn't be making such fine music.
If you care about rock & roll at all, you owe it to yourself
to go out and hunt this album down. - BMarkey / Blogcritics
_________________________
|
They make the kind
of music that makes you want to sway on the dance floor, nod
knowingly to friends to or exorcize demons from nervous drunks
to. This trashy funky set of nine originals and one song each
by Charles Brown, Curtis Mayfield and the Holland/Dozier/Holland
team is a great start. - Garage
and Beat
_________________________
|
This band's version
of garage rock is crossed with a soulful edge in the organ, dramatic
vocals that bring to mind Hasil Adkins and Iggy Pop, and the
psychedelic undertow of '60s stalwarts like The Doors. But this
is hardly a retro exercise, as there's also a helping of thrashing
punk energy in the tempos and general execution. Particularly
compelling are the stomping instrumentals that bring to mind
the roaring rock of the Pacific Northwest's Wailers. The band
reworks Curtis Mayfield's "Fool For You" and Charles
Brown's "I Wanna Be Close" a bit more loudly than the
originals, and adds a thrashing take of the Motown rarity, "Love's
Gone Bad." Fans of retro bands like The Black Lips, or the
band's ancestral predecessors (Mr. Airplane Man, King of Nuthin')
should check this out. - Eli Messinger / amazon.com
_________________________
|
This I like. And
so will you if The Dirtbombs and the gospel album by Oblivians
rules your world. The Turpentines Brothers are a guitar/drums/organ
trio from Boston and this is their debut album Although it's
hard to compete with the above mentioned bands I really enjoyed
listening to We Don't Care... And there's plenty of traces of
mid-60's soul too which is always a plus in my black book. Recommended.
- Don K / Lowcut
_________________________
|
Un disque très
soigné qui place le groupe quelque part entre les Oblivians
(époque "9 songs with Mr Quintron"), Cheater
Slicks et Reigning Sound. un bel album, mélancolique mais
pas mièvre comme le prouve la chanson-titre, "We
don't care about your good times". - Nico / SDZ
(France)
_________________________
|
Reeking of cigarettes
and cheap booze, the Turpentine Brothers come barreling out of
the chute like a bunch of drunken, amphetamine-tweaked swamp
creatures from the wrong side of Hell. In actuality, though,
the Turpentine Brothers are comprised of Justin (vocals/guitar),
Zack (organ), and Tara (drums), but, Lord a-mercy, do they ever
create one helluva smokin'-hot Garage Rock racket like a hundred
shotguns a-blastin' their way into infamy. A heavy, sleaze-ridden
R&B vibe is present along with a heady dose of grimy, white-trash
Psychedelia, and it's all thickly smothered in echo, sweat, and
mange. The Animals, The Seeds, Love, and The Stooges were the
highly influential originators of such growlin', greasy-fried
sounds, but they weren't anywhere near as filthy and dangerous
as the Turpentine Brothers appear to be. So get off your asses,
people, and fuck the night away. - Moser / Under the Volcano
_________________________
|
Did you notice?
There's no bass... crazy... any way, they sound these three are
pushing can be called (and has been called) many things; Garage-Rock,
Soul, Punk, Psychedelic, R&B, Broken Blues, etc. To my ears,
the band comes across as a mix between The Doors, and The Stooges.
They have that rough, early proto-Punk garage sound, but it's
drenched in this psychedelic Doors-esque organ work. The sound,
and the vibe, is pretty cool. Young 'uns will see comparisons
to bands such as the White Stripes, Jet, The Hives, and the like,
while old timers will think of MC5, Iggy Pop, and The Animals.
If you were to mash all the underground sounds of the late 60s
and early 70s into a single sound, the all-out sonic assault
that you find on this debut effort would be that sound. - Jeff
/ Urotsukidoji's Pad
_________________________
|
There´s no
words that I can say than give this album the justice it deserves.
This album should be in your collection and has every right to
be there. Just sheer quality right from the opening track ´People
Are Talking´ right through to the final track ´We
Don´t Care About Your Good Times´. This is Sleazy
Garage Rock N Roll at it´s best. Forget ´The White
Stripes´ this is where it´s at with the TURPENTINE
BROTHERS. Everything is spot on with this album especially the
production - Brilliant! It has to be said though that originality
is always the best way to go and with this band it´s the
organ they incorporate in to their sound that gives them the
edge. What is also noticeable about this band is they admit they
didn´t set out to play this style of music - It just happened.
And damn I´m so glad that this is the sound the managed
to create what with all their influences bouncing about. It clearly
demonstrates to me that originality is the way to go. This album
proves it. Nuff said really! 10/10. - Ffruk
(UK)
_________________________
|
As Boston-based
deadbeats and nightcrawlers already know, the Turpentine Brothers
consist of two of the Kings of Nuthin' (Justin Hubbard and Zack
Brines) and one sinister sister from Mr. Airplane Man (Tara McManus).
As expected with a pedigree like that, the trio grinds out saw-toothed
basement blues and soul that's cut from the same oil- and bloodstained
cloth as the Reigning Sound/Oblivions and Deadly Snakes. But
there's also a rueful coolness and polish to the Brothers' material
that belies their rockabilly/broken-blues day gigs and also places
them outside the pack of frantic freakers that currently work
the garage rock fields; check the midnight blues stagger/swagger
of "I Wanna Be Close" or "Why Can't I," or
Hubbard's mournful twang on "One Man," and you're hearing
something more akin to the Gun Club's hipster gloom or a less
jazzed-up Morphine than, say, Thee Headcoats. As any biologist
will tell you, mutant strains are essential for any organism
to evolve and survive, and if there's any musical genre in dire
need of some fresh DNA, it's garage rock. So here's hoping that
the Turpentine Brothers keep pissing in the gene pool. - Paul
Gaita / Sleazegrinder
_________________________
|
The Turpentine Brothers
are two parts Kings of Nuthin' (singer/guitarist Justin Hubbard
and organist Zack Brines) and one part Mr. Airplane Man (drummer
Tara McManus). They started as an outlet for Justin and Tara
to play old-time country, but they've evolved into a boot-stomping,
finger-pointing rock-and-roll band. - Chris Rucker / The
Boston Phoenix
_________________________
|
Turpentine Brothers
son un trio originario de Boston, con un background que incluye
a dos miembros de of Mr. Airplane Man y otro de King of Nuthin',
combos muy emparentados en el cuento este del rockabilly, el
punk, el blues y el rock en su vertiente más ortodoxa.
¿Y que se podía esperar de este disco?. Mas de
lo mismo, claro. Eso sí, sazonado con muchas dosis de
buen gusto y algunos momentos realmente notables. Su sonido evoca
claramente referencias sonaras como los Oblivians y The Deadly
Snakes, es decir, una marcada tendencia al garage rock en su
vertiente más revivalista. Pero ojo que esto no suena
como si la banda estuviese empecinada en imitar a sus influencias,
"We Don't Care about you Good Times" presenta un inteligente
y eficaz uso del órgano que ayuda a resaltar las abundantes
dosis de energía que forman parte de este disco. - Iván
Dague / Especial
35
_________________________
|
The most unique
thing about the TURPENTINE BROTHERS is the fact that they are
so upbeat, they don't welter in the usual miserable shit that
so many in the genre do- this is fun and exhibits the wild spirit
and flair that garage music is all about. It's crude and it's
feral and that's what's so beautiful about it. Spot on. - NFT
(UK)
_________________________
|
Every song has its
very own style and at the same time each song sounds like it
belongs to the The Turpentine Brothers very distinct big sounding
music. This music begs to be heard in a smoke filled super LOUD
little club, a stiff drink and your girl close by your side .
Hopefully, the Turpentine Brothers will find their way to Atlanta
sometime soon cause we NEED you here. - MusicFilter
_________________________
|
|
