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Turbo Lovers get revved up to rock
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
YOUNGSTOWN
Turbo Lovers had been trying to finish their latest album, “Over the Hump,” for months, but life kept getting in the way.
The Youngstown rock trio had four songs in the can but couldn’t seem to get, well, over the hump, because of a series of delays and setbacks.
“There was a lot going on with the band between the last record and this one, personal stuff,” said frontman and founder B.J. Lisko. “So the title was a nod to that. It took a long time for the record to come together. We had the first half done, then the next four songs took a year. Something else would always happen. There were funerals and circumstances.”
The new album was finally released in August, and it has a triumphant attitude despite – or maybe because of – the obstacles in its way.
Turbo Lovers has been producing straight-ahead rock for at least a decade; “Hump” is its sixth full-lengh release.
“It’s cliched to say it’s our best one,” said Lisko, “but it came out the way we envisioned. It’s the way it should sound. We’ve had decent albums in the past.”
The eight songs have the structure of ’80s rock anthems – think Def Leppard, Great White, KISS, Guns N’ Roses and AC/DC. Some blaze out of the gate with driving riffs, while others build layer by layer.
“It’s arena rock, mixed with the Supersuckers and Danko Jones,” said Lisko.
For the first time, Turbo Lovers has put out two consecutive albums with the same lineup: Lisko on guitar and vocals, Keith Colclough on bass and backing vocals and Christian DeSantis on drums.
“It helps to have stability,” said Lisko, who noted that arranging the tunes has suddenly become a collaborative process. “I wouldn’t keep doing it if it wasn’t with these guys.”
Turbo Lovers will play a free show Saturday at the Royal Oaks as a way to say thank-you to its fans. Then in January and February, the band will appear at Buzzbin in Canton, Ripper’s Rock House in Akron and the Agora in Cleveland.
Turbo Lovers has long been associated with the Royal Oaks. It played its first show there a decade ago, and still plays there on a regular basis. The photo on the back cover of the new album shows the band in front of the East Side bar.
But Ripper’s also has become home turf for the band. And therefore, it wasn’t surprising that Turbo Lovers was the first band to play at both the Royal Oaks and Ripper’s after they got “Bar Rescue” makeovers this summer.
A crew from the Spike reality-TV show visited both bars this summer, and episodes about them aired in October and November.
“We were not only the first band to play at both bars after the episode aired, but also the first to play at both after the show visited,” said Lisko.