Turpentine Brothers

We Don’t Care About Your Good Times (Alive/Bomp!)
by Craig Regala

Garage rock, garage rock… 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?
(www.bomp.com)