It has been almost a year since Turbowolf released their phenomenal début self titled album. Since the release they have racked up rave reviews for the release and their brilliant live show. Everything about this band is crazy, their videos are psychedelic, mind warping views. They have come back with this selection of covers to tease fans before they release their new album.
Featuring covers of The Hives’ ‘See Through Head’, MGMT’s ‘Electric Feel’ (yes you did read that correctly), Lightening Bolt’s ‘Captain Caveman’ and finally Jefferson Airplane’s ’Somebody to Love’. With such an eclectic array of genres and bands being covered it makes for an interesting listen. Whether you are a fan of the band or the bands being given the Turbowolf treatment.
If you didn’t know that this was a covers EP you wouldn’t be wrong in mistaking it for a collection of new songs. Each cover has been adapted to that distinctive Turbowolf sound. Fuzzy guitars, crazy electronics and Chris’ distinctive voice.
The Hives cover has adapted so well to the Turbowolf sound and if anything, demonstrates their punk influence to the band. Fuzzier than the original, it still has that chaotic and quirky sound The Hives are known for.
Seeing the next track on the listing left me intrigued, I wanted to see how and if it would work, however it turns out the MGMT cover is a personal favourite of mine. Turbowolf’s rendition is slower in tempo than the original which gives the track a spacier, ambient feel. It has surprisingly transferred well into a hard rock style; everything down to that infamous riff works well and with both bands being influenced by psychedelia it should have been no surprise to me.
Lightening Bolt’s ‘Captain Caveman’ is what you could call a straight-forward cover; with its unusual lyrics, driving guitar line, and added keyboards it could easily have been on their début as an original track.
The final cover (Jefferson Airplane’s ‘Somebody to Love’) has been covered by everyone from The Ramones to the Boogie Pimps (you cannot understand how annoying it was for me to find out who these guys were! God bless the internet). So it may be that you have already heard some rendition of this track. The Turbowolf version is of course the best of the three, they are able to apply their signature to it which doesn’t just sound heavy as hell it also rounds off the EP to a close.
Anyone waiting eagerly for a release of new material will be happy with this dose of Turbowolf madness; the selection of tracks portrays a band with an assorted range of influences. Whether you are a fan or the original or new to the tracks, you cannot deny that each song is done extremely well.
4/5
‘Covers EP Vol.1’ by Turbowolf is available now on Hassle Records.
Turbowolf links: Facebook|Twitter
Words by Robert Maddison (@BertMaddison)
