Music / Reviews
Review: Turbowolf, Marble Factory
Turbowolf played an absolute barnstormer of a gig at the Marble Factory back in the spring, and they returned for a seasonal special – billed as their last live show for a while. The band are working on new material and let’s keep our fingers crossed that the rumours are true and the resulting recording will be called Quell: The Ever Changing Sorcerer of Past, Present & Future; because you just know that a title that good is gonna be matched by some sensational sounds.
If you were at the previous gig you will recollect that the band were super tight, super heavy and super fun: the intervening months have seen the band go up a notch again. Their set showed no mercy as they demolished a set list covering both albums. The music remains rooted in metal (but heavy and nimble, treading that fine line between grandeur and bluster); doused with psychedelic punk – theremin to the front, gonzoid keyboards splashed around at will and bonkers samples ;coupled with choruses to keep and cherish. You can only get away with attempting to create such a “…beautifully crafted horrible noise for the masses” if you have the chops and the band have them in spades. Andy Ghosh has developed in to a formidable player, sure he can shred and solo, but he’s more than happy pumping out the riffs and leading the sonic assault with massive slabs of rhythm. Lianna Lee Davies is not only a great, melodic player, but a bundle of energy, constantly moving and locked in to the beat. As for the drums, well Blake Davies is so good you barely notice him – no unnecessary flash, just a grooving pounding beat that drills its way through your ears and into your feet. It’s impossible to stay still once the group locks in to a song.
Chris Georgiadis remains by far one of the most entertaining front men around town. Unlike the pervious gig, his stage diving was limited to a half dozen excursions (more than a dozen previously) and the crowd surfing only went as far as the mixing desk (he made the bar last time). He managed to combine keyboards, theremin, singing, dancing, cheer leading and song intros in to a banter laden whirling ball of energy.
Ah, but what about the tunes? As Berry Gordy said “It’s what’s in the groove that counts” and a cursory listen to either album reveals that the band can craft a song. The songs really come to life live mind: Rabbits Foot, Solid Gold, Seven Severed Heads, Read + Write, American Mirrors …all dispatched with considerable swagger and panache. No encores but you know what? No encore necessary, the band owned the crowd.
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