These guys may be from Be Your Own Pet, and they might sound at times a little bit like their day job, but there's one very important difference-- Turbo Fruits are laid back. Some of this comes from the variety of topics the band sings about, including being stoned, getting stoned, not having the drugs one would use to get stoned and, naturally, Pop Tarts. The less frenetic approach the group takes in zipping through their two-minute songs also helps. But this vibe starts and ends with the can't-get-out-of-bed croaking of guitarist/vocalist Jonas Stein.
When he's excited (like on the spastic album opener, "No Drugs To Use"), Stein sounds like a hoarse Henry Rollins. When he's feeling mellow (as on the proto-grunge "Volcano"), a hint of Mark Arm's cultivated ennui creeps into his voice. And when he reaches for those high notes, he sounds like he should've known better. Regardless of whether he's shouting about the Iraqi conflict ("Fight This!"), getting the "I just want to be friends" talk ("20th I Was Blue"), or pitching woo to a Devo girl (in the song with the same name), Stein exudes an anti-charismatic charm that's just as appealing as the spastic screaming of BYOP's Jemina Pearl.
While Stein's frenetic guitar playing is usually more in line with Pearl's antics, on this record he strikes a pose more befitting his own vocal tact. There's still a fair amount of thrashing and slashing to be had, but it's abetted by some unexpected turns towards more traditional rocking and rolling. Compared to everything else on the album, the twangy strumming in "The Run Around" practically makes the song a country standard (and perfectly fits the song's "Girl, don't treat me bad" / "Girl, why don't you treat me bad" narrative). "The Ballad" and "Pocket Full of Thistles" are less successful takes on this rootsier turn, but the tracks are so short and spry it doesn't matter. "The Ballad" is one of only three tracks that makes it past the three minute mark, and with drummer John Eatherly doing his best approximation of Animal, the album just flies right by. So if you're down with thirty-plus minutes of three dudes dropping trou and lighting farts on fire in a garage rock fashion, Turbo Fruits is definitely for you.
