Straight from the slums of Essex come Turbochong and their utterly obnoxious debut EP Disrespectful, which is so perfectly named it’s ridiculous. Knowing that this band features various limbs, brains and vocal chords from the incestuous gene pool that has spawned Cease To Exist, Unloved and Cthulhu Youth and that it will be released on a small run of cassettes by the fast-expanding Yamabushi Recordings, you almost know what to expect. But that doesn’t stop Turbochong from hitting you square in the teeth like a tramp whose dog you just pissed on.
With lyrics like “You need a haircut, your mum needs a haircut” (from the wickedly deranged ‘Big In The Game’), it’s clear that Turbochong have their tongue wedged firmly in their collective cheek. But they also have both feet planted firmly in the shit and filth of the gutter. Clocking in at a mere 6 tracks long and equaling a mammoth 5 minutes of running time, Disrespectful is lightning quick and astonishingly violent. Think a Youth Attack style lo-fi punk wrapped up in a baggie full of cheap acid, blood and hair. Or something. Spine-rattling guitar riffs crowned with completely unintelligible vocals; the screaming of a madman. It’s the sound of housing estate stabbings; of deadbeats dealing drugs to children; of violence just for the thrill of it; the soundtrack to having zero moral compass. It’s a relentlessly unpleasant set of tracks that dance a line between shit-eating-grin parody and blood-soaked all out war.
Because for all the horror, there is parody here. A pinch of blacker-than-black humour. Disrespectful serves simultaneously as a worrying window into the mind of a total sociopath and a laugh out loud exaggeration of street gang bravado. “No I’m not a fuckin clown, turn up at your BBQ and dead you in your own lounge” he spits during opening assault ‘And It’s T’; that dichotomy in full effect. Outrageous violence written with a knowing smirk. But there’s a disturbing poetry later in the same track; the stark reality of senseless murder laid bare with “now they only see your face in wooden picture frames“.
I can guarantee you that I’ve put more thought into Turbochong’s debut release than the band would ever have intended. On the surface, this is an excellent and rabid collection of negligent DIY hardcore, one that pushes you to the ground and smirks as you struggle. A death threat masked as a joke. And like the funniest jokes, it’s pretty damn uncomfortable. Should you be laughing?
Get it from the Yamabushi Recordings store, or download it here
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