TURKEY VULTURE – On The List EP

Following a couple of EPs fusing hardcore punk and stoner metal, Connecticut’s Turkey Vulture have chosen to branch out a little more on their 2024 release ‘On The List’. The six tracks still convey a love of great noise and still celebrate a very lo-fi ethic, but Jessie May (gtr/vox) and Jim Clegg (drums) have added swathes of grindcore and a pinch of death metal to their grab-bag of angry sounds. The results – although still very clearly delivered via Turkey Vulture’s furious hand – are utterly devastating. And not only have they increased their sense of force , but they appear to have decreased their already non-existent recording budget, which makes this EP a genuinely uncompromising affair.


At Turkey Vulture’s most brutal, ‘Adults Destroy’ presents approximately fifty seconds worth of ferocity. The speed driven rhythm draws equal influence between grindcore and classic US hardcore, and comes with an angrily spat vocal to match. During the fastest moments, the message is almost inaudible, since the featured voice takes on the manner of a possessed demon, but slowing midway, a punchy melody rises, cranks the tension, and eventually explodes under a repeated mantra where the title is repeated. There’s not really enough here to really latch onto, but without a pause, the noise rock duo bring an even bigger thrill via ‘Harvest Moon’, a low-fi workout that opens with a brilliant garage blues riff, before venturing into a barrage of speed and anger where hardcore vocals collide with a hastily smashed drum kit and unrelenting garage punk guitar work. Eventually proving that the bluesier elements weren’t just a hoax, the second part of the number eschews the pure noise for another round of dirty riffs and a vocal that gleefully shares something that sounds like a trad folk melody, lurching back and forth. It may be a number of two halves that’s been wilfully under-produced, but this uncompromising piece of noise is one of Turkey Vulture’s finest tracks.

Blending noise and melody in an off-kilter manner, ‘Untitled’ kicks off with a circular punky riff that sounds like East Bay Ray reworking something by Agnostic Front, very much throwing Jessie’s guitar into the spotlight. Then, with a great base set, everything is abandoned for a noisy waltz, over which a natural vocal taps into some very retro riotgrrrl vibes. Somewhere within the noise, you’ll find an influence from Babes In Toyland which doesn’t necessarily sit naturally with the instrumental intro, and yet TV’s refusal to bend actually results in a punky, noisy mismatch that actually works. Returning to the original melody, the track actually starts to feel a little more complete, and the marriage between surf-ish guitar and garage rock drums offers a welcome callback to earlier Vulture sounds. Better yet, ‘Fiends Like Us’ drives forth with a classic hardcore punk riff and shouting vocal, not a million miles away from Death Pill. The repetitive vocal melody may come from tried and tested stock, but the force with which Jessie scowls through each syllable remains impressive, and to ensure things don’t get too familiar, Jim switches the mood unexpectedly for a middle eight that explores more of a garage blues vibe. In a little under ninety seconds, Turkey Vulture grabs their audience by the neck and works them into a fury, proving that classic hardcore sounds needn’t be stale, whilst ‘Dollhouse’ reverts to a swaggering, dirty blues and stoner hybrid that’s a little closer to early Vulture works. Or at least that’s the false impression the track’s intro and chorus seeks to share. Between the more melodic elements, you’ll find something much sharper and experience Jessie in full roar as she barks through a grindcore infused performance.

Sharing the EP’s biggest musical surprise, ‘Jill The Ripper’ casts aside all anger to work a folky melody, augmented by accordion and banjo. It might not deliver the noise, but with echoes of Amigo The Devil within the music, and lyrics about being handcuffed to a bed and being under threat, there’s just as much darkness present in the performance itself. It’s a real pleasure to hear Turkey Vulture exploring different avenues, and an even bigger thrill to hear a more melodic aspect to Jessie’s vocal. Despite being the musical outlier here, this is actually one of the EP’s highlights.

The bulk of this release is so ugly it makes earlier Turkey Vulture recordings sound like the fuzzy blues of Little Albert. It even makes a lot of lo-fi punk seem professional and polished. No matter how raw this is, however, it’s definitely exciting, and its short blasts of aggression will connect rather swiftly with anyone who found a love for the duo’s earlier work. Those noise rock and hardcore fans who’ve not found Turkey Vulture prior to this should also find plenty to love about this piece of pure anger too, so in rough and ready stoner-punk/grind terms, everybody wins. It mightn’t be the kind of thing you’ll spin daily, but when approached in the right mood, it’ll really hit the mark.

August 2024

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