Trik Turner

(RCA)
by Scott Hefflon

This takes the cake for the band most jammed down my throat (KMFDM is a distant second, and I think Grand Theft Audio was right up there, but that was just some package-happy publicist who decided to send a copy to every name on the masthead, not realizing that I’m the lucky sap who listens to every CD and assigns it out or passes on it). That’s kinda neither here nor there, I just thought I’d give a shout out to the telemarketers, er, publicists working the record.

“Friends & Family” is the single, a heartfelt’n’hoaky chill rap about appreciating, well, friends and family. Hey, Hallmark cards may be sweet’n’dumb, but they often speak the truth. And “New York Groove” initially really rubbed me the wrong way (Kiss’s original is a great song, and who are these Phoenix, AZ white rappers to “give props” to the veteran schlock rockers?), but, well, it grew on me. And that’s the thing… I instinctively recoil from white people rapping like they have any right to do so, much like white bluesmen (a contradiction), but Trik Turner seem authentic, thoughtful, and filled with integrity and good intentions. Not that they’re saints, but they seem like good guys, ya know? And in a genre filled with so many blowhard copycats and some of the dumbest wish-they-were-thugs you hope to never, ever meet, that’s quite an accomplishment.

Here’s to hoping Trik Turner start a trend with “Let it Rip,” a “bring it on” sentiment daring people to step up and see if they have what it takes, not to prove they’re the toughest but to separate the talented from the showboats with no substance to back it up. Recommended (and be patient with it, ok?) for anyone who thinks white people can’t rap or that monster production (by guys like Mudrock, who made vapid cover bands Godsmack, Coal Chamber, and Powerman 5000 sound so great, most never noticed how absolutely pathetic they are) can be restrained, accentuating a band’s talent instead of loudly trying to compensate for the lack of it.
(www.trikturner.com)