Turn Me On Dead Man

Apparently Jello Biafra has an ear for apolitical rock’n’roll, after all. Bay Area band Turn Me On Dead Man write songs about UFOs, spacemen, the Beatles and space cults (among other cosmic concerns), which sets the quartet well apart from most of their Alternative Tentacles label-mates. But what the unit lack in substance they’re more than compensated for in terms of style. This is fuzzed-out, unrelenting psychedelic rock’n’roll, so chock full of subtle studio shenanigans that listeners will be on the hunt for headphones a couple of tracks into the dozen doozies here. A pervasive grounding of old school metal maintains a black leather jacket element throughout and prevents the programme from straying into lightweight, art-school psyche mode. In case you missed the reference, the band’s name is derived from the supposed phrase one hears repeatedly when the Beatles "Revolution 9” is spun backwards. That, however, is about as Beatles-ish as the band get. For a more accurate reference point, imagine Ween taking an ape-shot at a quintessential Brian Jonestown Massacre album. Yeah, it’s just about that good.