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Canadian heavy metal act
TURBO
has released album
‘Broke & Ugly’
track-list:
Ruthless Forever
Ignite the Night
No Savior
Scorpio Garbage Fire
PissJugs and Rattlesnakes
Nothing to Nowhere
Broke & Ugly
Down in Mexico
recorded at Nova Scotia, Canada
mixed by Lindsey Dicks
mastered by Jamie King Audio
Turbo are (left to right):
Sylvian Coderre – drums
Henry MacDonald – bass
Evan Frizzle – vox, lead & rhythm guitar
Lindsey Dicks – lead & rhythm guitar
discography:
2020 Fast as Fvck Full-length
2024 Broke & Ugly Full-length
8.5/10 – Dead Rhetoric:
“The cartoon-ish cover art with toxic green/red colors could bring more smiles to the fold – Turbo executing a great crossover sound that stands on the edge of thrash, punk and NWOBHM/heavy metal. ‘Broke & Ugly’ could be your soundtrack when needing an ideal wind down from your back breaking, seemingly never over work week.”
4/5 – The Metal Crypt:
“This rocks a lot. The vocalist’s gritty approach delivers surprisingly catchy and memorable vocal melodies and the occasional backing vocals are often reminiscent of mid-80s ‘party’ metal, very upbeat and singalong-inducing. The guitar work has everything people like in old heavy metal, a rather raw style filled with cool solos and riffs that stick in your head long after they’re over. You’d tell me this was released more than 40 years ago and I would believe you. A fun time from beginning to end.”
9/10. – Power-Metal.de:
“‘Broke & Ugly’ may have been a little tight in terms of playing time, but with the incredible hit rate of one hundred percent, you can forgive that. When punk and thrash still spoke a language, the whole thing sounded like this album. The fact that a band would ever come close to OVERKILL in terms of sound technology says more than enough! Yes! Noisy thrash, melodic punk, classic setup – what a great record!”
8/10 – FFM-Rock:
“Entertaining, refreshingly lively, dynamic, far too good to be bad. Massively punching Kick Ass- Heavy Metal n’ Rock n’ Roll on all sides, which hits the eye in a straight line, brutally, snotty, until it hits the chest, where it hurts. Snots, tubes, rocks and rolls straight to the limit!”
Sentinel Daily:
“The band is insanely tight, with Frizzle and fellow six stringer Lindsey Dicks really giving it some violence riff wise and soloing like their lives depended on it. Similarly, the rhythm section of Sylvain Coderre (d) and Henry MacDonald take no prisoners and submit to no-one in their ability to hold things together at high velocity. Very impressive. As we get deeper into the twenty first century, bands are running out of ways to repackage, remake and remodel, so the freshness with which Turbo approach the task in hand has to be applauded. This is fun to listen to – and it certainly sounds like the band had fun getting the album down, and sometimes a bit of joie de vivre is all any of us need. But when you are able to mix that in with a killer technique and a sharp ear for a metal tune well, good times await!…Canada’s Turbo label their music Nitro-Rock; On the evidence of the submitted album, ‘Broke & Ugly’, it would seem that Nitro rock is in fact an almighty mashup of styles, all rendered at high speed and with little regard for personal danger (in my day we used to call that Crossover-Ed). If that description excites you, then the album is going to send you into paroxysms of joy…”
The Razor’s Edge:
“Turbo’s second full length album is the equivalent of getting into a newly juiced up hotrod, the roof reeled back in, as you’re flooring it down the highway until your smoke trails combust. From start to finish, Turbo live up to their name in droves and then some with energy that cannot be denied and a plethora of tracks that offer much to be remembered. Though boasting a full nine tracks, ‘Broke & Ugly’ doesn’t even eclipse a full half hour and therefore opens itself up for numerous relistens. It starts up, gets you in the mood to kick some butt, yet doesn’t attempt to overstay its welcome to any degree. For me personally, this style of speed metal can be a vast hit or miss but I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this record, and during its duration I was brought on board with Turbo’s infectious power. Furthermore, I’d wish to visit their first record, and am excited to see what they do for a third, prospective release; I merely hope it’s not another four years because this is really good, fun material that anyone can get behind. A refreshing break from crushing, defeating extreme metal is sometimes needed, and Turbo are one fine cocktail.”
The Viking in the Wilderness:
“Turbo is a band that gives me associations to two very different bands and the earlier stages of both of those bands output, and that is Turbonegro and Iron Maiden respectively. If you can imagine the early death punk of the former combined with certain aspects of the Di’Anno era of the latter combined into a whole, you probably won’t be too far off from the kind of landscapes explored by Canadians Turbo. And chances are good that you’ll find this tight and uptempo album to be a rewarding experience if that description comes across as tantalizing.”
Brutally Delicious:
“This album is just the perfect encapsulation of a fun.”
Metallus.it:
“In ‘Broke & Ugly’ everything is assault and everything is thrash, with scream and you chant to give that imprint punk and Warrior Soul which makes the offer of the four Canadians even more pleasant and captivating.”
Rockeando:
“if you want to have fun while frantically shaking your head and listening to a collection of compositions full of nods to NWOBHM, be sure to give ‘Broke & Ugly’ a listen.”
The East Mag:
“TURBO is Halifax’s answer to Motorhead…”
Slickster Magazine:
“It is a thrash metal rollercoaster of a musical ride that grabs you by the dick and doesn’t let go until bust a riff-inspired ear nut.”
Their full-speed-ahead attitude is translated into the newest release, ‘Broke and Ugly’;
faster, louder and rawer than their first release.
“We’re comin’ in fast, hot and greasy with our second dose of Nitro Rock, ‘Broke and Ugly’. It’s faster, grittier, meaner, sleazier and louder than the first dose we gave you, and it’ll have you tapping your arm frantically to find a good vein. We’ve been called ‘Halifax’s answer to Motorhead’ by The East Magazine in 2020 with our first album, and with this release, we’ve taken that reputation VERY seriously. Get yourself a grimy slab of Thrash, add a good pinch of NWOBHM catchiness and throw it on the burner. Mix some spicy glam metal and sleaze rock into a bowl with a large helping of punk rock and hardcore. Drizzle that over what you got on the burner and garnish with a singer determined to turn his voice into sand who’s lifestyle and world-view will make you worry for him, and you have the recipe for Turbo’s distinct flavor. It’s an absolute slaughter in 7-tracks, sure to scratch an old-school itch you didn’t realize was there. Like your disheveled uncle on Christmas morning, Turbo is STILL trashed, pissed off, and sick of your shit.”
“’Broke and Ugly’ is our second testament to the ups and downs of the rock-and-roll lifestyle, and it comes in swingin’ HARD. The music is raw, greasy and mean; but it’s also tight, coordinated, and flashy. The lyrics are defiant and visceral, painting a real picture of where Evan’s mind was at during the writing process of the album. Themes go from party-anthems, to drugs, to women of flings-past, to life on the road, and back again. It’s edgy, it’s real, and it’s undeniably Turbo.”
‘Ruthless Forever’:
“The opening track ‘Ruthless Forever’ has some of the heaviest riffs in the entire album. It also features one of Evan’s favorite guitar solos in the middle of it; he gets to demonstrate some of his jazz-knowledge through that solo. He had just successfully quit a nasty habit with crank before writing the song, and the lyrics are predominantly about his triumphant return thereafter.”
‘IGNITE THE NIGHT’:
“‘Ignite the Night’ is a straight-ahead party anthem. No ice, no chaser, no bullshit. The lyric ‘yeah, you’ve got problems, and I know how we’ll solve ‘em’ pretty much spells it out. It features some flashy work with guitar-harmonies and a wicked main riff and structure to it. Have a beer or two cracked when you blast this one.”
‘NO SAVIOR’:
“While writing this one, both Sylvain and Evan were each going through some somewhat nasty breakups. The lyrics talk about that, and issue a warning of sorts to future ladyfriends: ‘I ain’t no savior, I’ll burn here forever’. Definitely one of the album’s standout anthems.”
‘SCORPIO GARBAGE FIRE’:
“Written to be more accessible and radio-friendly, while still keeping the trademark Turbo snarl intact, Scorpio Garbage Fire is a bouncy ripper with a palpable punk-rock edge to it. The lyrics are about a hippy-raver girl Evan used to have chemsex flings with many years ago.”
‘PISSJUGS AND RATTLESNAKES’:
“‘Pissjugs’ is a perfect example of a song that was written with the name coming first, lyrics coming second. It’s loosely written about a crew of strippers Evan used to hang out with and their lifestyles at the time. Lindsey came up with the opening lead, and we were immediately off to the races writing this one. The song’s main riff might be the greasiest riff on the album. Drink every time we yell ‘pissjugs’!”
‘NOTHING TO NOWHERE’:
“We don’t write ballads in Turbo. Our sound just doesn’t translate well to an actual ‘ballad’ by any strict definition. But we DO feel that every good album needs at least one good reprieve from the ‘balls-to-the-wall’ blasters standard of any good metal band, and a demonstration of how a band can push it’s sound in a different direction to explore a different kind of emotion. ‘Nothing to Nowhere’ is our offering with that sentiment in mind. The lyrics talk about life on the road – something we’ve become extremely acquainted with.”
‘BROKE AND UGLY’:
“The title track of the album was written in a period of hard-times, financially-speaking. Since this is more or less the general state of being for Evan in particular, who else would be better suited to lyrically immortalize this mindset. It’s catchy, it’s boppy, it’s snarky, and it has our favorite chorus on the album: ‘Got no money, and STILL fuckin’ ugly’! An anthem we hope at least SOMEBODY out there will relate to.“
‘DOWN IN MEXICO’:
“Our bassist Henry wrote the main riff of this song, and it punched us in the gut so hard that we don’t deviate too far from it at any point through this song. It’s a real thresh, start to finish. We wrote it right before leaving for our tour through Mexico in the hopes that we could play the Mexican fans a ditty written JUST for them. Their response was unreal, show after show. We’re proud to have this one closing out the album with an absolute bang!”
About the album artwork the band comments:
“The artwork for ‘Broke and Ugly’ was done by our primary artist and good friend, Tim Murray. It depicts a dive-bar nightmare bathroom that has been – to put it diplomatically – well-loved haha. It has a few little Easter-eggs from other songs of ours peppered through it, and a green hand grabbing for some shit-tickets from a busted-ass urinal that belongs to the velociraptor featured in the album art from the first album, ‘Fast as Fvck’.”
Like your disheveled uncle on Christmas morning, Turbo is trashed, pissed off and sick of your shit.
The members of Turbo, who were all in separate bands at the time, came together with the motivation to create something bigger and badder.
Something that was gonna grab things right by the cojones and give them a good shake.
Evan Frizzle (vocalist/guitarist) and Sylvain Coderre (drums) were looking to start up a project and when they met Lindsey Dicks (guitar) the juices started flowing.
Todd Stanley (bass) held the same ‘Take No Prisoners’ vision and immediately joined the fray.
The musical influences cited by the band span across the heavy music spectrum, which results in an original, aggressive and varied listening experience.
With 100% collaborative effort, the themes that fuel Turbo lyrics revolve around personal experiences or things that just come up while they’re writing the music to a particular piece.
The focus is that all the bandmates are able to relate to topics they sing about.
It’s real, edgy and visceral.
The highly potent debut album ‘Fast as Fvck’ was relinquished upon the masses in 2020;
metal enough for the heshers, punk enough for the threshers and rocking enough to satiate the haughtiest of purests;
welcome to Turbo’s patented ‘Nitro-Rock’.
Shortly after the release of their first album, Todd Stanley left the band.
With no delay and extreme fervor, Henry MacDonald took up the helm on bass-duties and Turbo have been touring and writing nonstop ever since, never slowing down for a second.
Both of Turbo’s albums – ‘Fast as Fvck’ and ‘Broke and Ugly’ were almost entirely recorded and produced by guitarist Lindsey Dicks and the rest of the band themselves right in their rehearsal space, with minimal outside-help.
Turbo played 53 shows in one year in 2023.
They were on the road almost every weekend to achieve that.
In the fall of 2023, Turbo went on a two-week tour through Mexico and each member has a strange story about pooping from that trip.