Turn Me On Dead Man – Technicolor Mother – Review

turnmeondeadman200Turn Me On Dead Man

Technicolor Mother (Alternative Tentacles)
by Craig Regala

Here comes the Alternative Rock revivial! History’s dead and fertile loam for one and all to wade right the fuck in, eh? If they wanna bang a gong on the alt-rock tombstone, so be it. Reanimating gummy hard rock’s vibe touched up with Bowie/Roxy Music’s glam-as-rock sure’ll work. It worked for the Smashing Pumpkins, right? Right. I’m kinda pissed I wrote this and that shit gets name-checked in the bio, but the Alt.testies folks generally know what the fuck they’re talking about, so I’ll forgive’m cuz they put the Zolar X CD out (a unit who must’ve lent DNA to these guys’ gene pool via some club’s uni-sex bathroom in ’78).

This has that Golden Era radio hard rock surge; the riff logic doesn’t metalized into ker-chuggliness, even when whole dong ripping Sabbath (“Cyclops -Dedicated To The One Eye Love”) in Chains. These moves have fueled decades of cool stuff: Spirit, Randy Holden, Be Bop Deluxe, The Screaming Trees, Monster Magnet, Built To Spill, Hitting Birth, (Google’m): Hell, it’s the common language guitar bands use. These guys cut the mustard with a bit of honey; clean harmonies, nice acoustic passages, fluid lush guitar lines that sound familiar and taste as good as Oasis best long-form ballads (that’re great).

The only way this stuff can matter is song by song; and it does. They build’m good, hang a couple hooks in each without resorting to second rate power pop/pop punks shouting and pointing (“hey everyone, here’s the hook! Didja hear it? Huh? Huh?). So: Here’s four non-hit alt.rock covers they could handle nicely; “Fuzz Factory” by Love Battery, “The Pod” by Hum, “Down Time” by Die Kreutzen, and “Only Dreaming” by Maids Of Gravity. Tour’m with peers the Pink Floydier The Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound, and the shoegazer whoosh! rock of Terra Diablo. Damn, it’d be perfect.

(www.alternativetenttacles.com)