On their ninth album,
Sexual Harassment, self-described deathpunks
Turbonegro show that even without frontman Hank Von Helvete, they're still one of the rawest, rowdiest punk bands working today. New singer Tony Sylvester (aka The Duke of Nothing) makes his debut on the album, and his gruff, no-nonsense vocals evoke the five-pack-a-day voice of the great one himself, Lemmy. While
Turbonegro have always had an edge to them, Sylvester's vocals allow the band to move away from Von Helvete's glam-influenced sleaze and toward something that feels harder and more dangerous. This stylistic change is demonstrated right out of the gate on "I Got a Knife," a threateningly loving song about a cherished, and perhaps somewhat willful, cutting instrument. Fans worried that the band might have cleaned up its act will be able to rest easy after hearing "Shake Your Shit Machine," a song whose titular line might win the prize for the sleaziest way to ask someone to get their booty moving in recent history. This combination of their classic attitude and newfound grizzle helps to make
Sexual Harassment an album that serves as both a great entry into
Turbonegro's discography and a refreshing reboot as the band tweaks its sound just enough to keep things fresh after nearly 25 years of nihilistic, anything-goes punk fury. Though old fans might need to adjust a bit to the change in the band's vanguard, after a few listens to
Sexual Harassment it becomes clear that this is still the same old
Turbonegro that we've all come to know, love, and get offended by. ~ Gregory Heaney