Turbowolf’s third album, The Free Life (So) is a whispy trippy nod to the beforetime. All I know is that I pulled out my lava lamp, put on some bell bottom trousers, dropped some acid, and flailed about the living room like I was at a Norman Greenbaum concert. The tracks have just enough psychedelic guitar sound to transport you back to the oh-so-colourful Sixties.

The groovy thing about The Free Life is that is has a throwback sound. It’s perfect for tuning in, turning on, and dropping out. It’s heavy when it needs to be, trippy when it needs to be, you can dance to it (I mean skank and pogo), and you can sing along: if you aren’t already a fan of Jefferson Airplane, old Rolling Stones, or Blue Cheer step away now. The Free Life has it all.

The ungroovy thing is you have to be in the right mood for this type of sound. If you aren’t, then it is an old fashioned hurly-burly as it has a very niche sound that doesn’t translate well if you aren’t in the mood for it. But if you are in the mood for it, then it’s a good listen.

 

Some of the highlights include the opening track ‘No No No’, Chantal Brown’s spot on guest vocals on ‘Very Bad’, and ‘Black Hole’, which is a very punkish, very Trainspotting. type of tune. ‘Black Hole’ was by far my favourite track on the album. While the title track ‘The Free Life’ was my least favourite. I kept asking myself, “What is this?” It just didn’t click as much as some of the other songs. The album ends strongly with the acoustic ‘Concluder’. It reminded me of a very dejected Stone Temple Pilots ‘Creep’. I liked it. A bit of a downer, lyric wise; I mean depressing. But I dug the song. Weird, right?

But overall it’s a solid fun album that’s worth the listen.

7.5/10

VICTORIA ANDERSON