Comedy in rock isn't easy to pull off, but Turbonegro have walked the fine line between the darkness and The Darkness for 20 years, with surprisingly stellar results. Their secret weapon is not portly frontman, Hank Von Helvete, nor hotshot lead guitarist Euroboy -- but rather bassist and chief songwriter Thomas Seltzer, aka Happy Tom, whose impeccable songwriting and bizarre mix of influences and references make the high points of Retox so unassailable. The Cheap Trick/Van Halen/Dead Kennedys hat trick of opener "We're Gonna Drop The Atom Bomb" is perhaps the guitar rock track of the year; "Do You Do You Dig Destruction" mixes a new wave flanged rocker with touches of the Stooges' "Search and Destroy," flamenco, "Leader of the Pack"; and "Boys From Nowhere" is Turbonegro at their straightest (so to speak). The problem? Happy Tom's day job as a comedy writer for Norwegian television means that humor stays in the foreground, leading to songs like "Hell Toupée" (oof), "Stroke The Shaft," "Everybody Loves A Chubby Dude," and execrable album closer "What Is Rock?!" Still, even the worst Turbonegro tracks have little gems thrown in, if you're the kind of Scandinavian rock fan that enjoys sleuthing for what riff is stolen from who -- sort of a punk/metal version of being a Sloan fan, I suppose.GENRE | SCANDINAVIAN RAWK
VERDICT | A RARE OPPORTUNITY TO LAUGH WITH NORWEGIANS
LABEL | COOKING VINYL
RELEASE | 8.14.07
TURBONEGRO.COM
COOKINGVINYL.COM
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