What arena rock could have been
Mr. Richard K. Weems | Fair Lawn, NJ USA | 07/29/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"For those who will think that Wolfmother lead the way in reviving 70s stadium rock, let us keep in mind that there are many who make the psychedelic/hard rock era still vital. Whether it's the straight-up, hard-line attitude of Queens of the Stone Age in Songs for the Deaf, or the booty-shaking rock of Zen Guerrilla with Trance States in Tongues, or even the kick-you-in-the-face rock of J.J. Paradise Players' Club on Wine Cooler Blowout, hard rock has been around and is sticking around, and this release by Turn Me On Dead Man just reinforces that truth.
Kudos and praise to Alternative Tentacles, for though they will probably be most known for putting out hard-edge punk from the tastes of former Dead Kennedy Jello Biafra, they have also branched out their catalog to include all kinds of music that I would still categorize as distinctive and original. From the soulful country twangs of Slim Cessna's Auto Club, and even this--one might think that stadium rock would be purely antithetical to guru Biafra, but Turn Me On Dead Man has energy and style that makes them far stronger and heavier than the boring licks of the sell-outs they might even admire. A seminal track on this disc is "Pharmaceutical Rainbows," which goes from scorching to laid back, never without a dose of hyped-up guitar-godism.
Turn Me On Dead Man carry the torch for a genre of music that was never that great, but has fueled a new generation of rockers who would really be able to fill the overgrown ampitheatre with enough blare to make even the most jaded ear bleed.
"