Track By Tracks: Turbo - Broke & Ugly (2024)

About The Album:

“Broke and Ugly” is our second testament to the ups and downs of the rock-and-roll lifestyle, and it comes in swingin’ HARD. The music is raw, greasy, and mean; but it’s also tight, coordinated, and flashy. The lyrics are defiant and visceral, painting a real picture of where Evan’s mind was at during the writing process of the album. Themes go from party anthems, to drugs, to women of flings-past, to life on the road, and back again. It’s edgy, it’s real, and it’s undeniably Turbo.

Track By Track:

The opening track - Ruthless Forever - has some of the heaviest riffs in the entire album. It also features one of Evan’s favorite guitar solos in the middle of it; he gets to demonstrate some of his jazz knowledge through that solo. He had just successfully quit a nasty habit with crank before writing the song, and the lyrics are predominantly about his triumphant return thereafter.

2. IGNITE THE NIGHT:

Ignite the Night is a straight-ahead party anthem. No ice, no chaser, no bullshit. The lyric “yeah, you’ve got problems, and I know how we’ll solve ‘em” pretty much spells it out. It features some flashy work with guitar harmonies and a wicked main riff and structure to it. Have a beer or two cracked when you blast this one.

3. NO SAVIOR:

While writing this one, both Sylvain and Evan were going through some somewhat nasty breakups. The lyrics talk about that, and issue a warning of sorts to future ladyfriends: “I ain’t no savior, I’ll burn here forever”. Definitely one of the album’s standout anthems.

4. SCORPIO GARBAGE FIRE:

Written to be more accessible and radio-friendly, while still keeping the trademark Turbo snarl intact, Scorpio Garbage Fire is a bouncy ripper with a palpable punk-rock edge to it. The lyrics are about a hippy-raver girl Evan used to have chemsex flings with many years ago.

5. PISSJUGS AND RATTLESNAKES:

Pissjugs is a perfect example of a song that was written with the name coming first, and lyrics coming second. It’s loosely written about a crew of strippers Evan used to hang out with and their lifestyles at the time. Lindsey came up with the opening lead, and we were immediately off to the races writing this one. The song’s main riff might be the greasiest riff on the album. Drink every time we yell “pissjugs”!

6. NOTHING TO NOWHERE:

We don’t write ballads in Turbo. Our sound just doesn’t translate well to an actual “ballad” by any strict definition. But we DO feel that every good album needs at least one good reprieve from the balls-to-the-wall blasters standard of any good metal band, and a demonstration of how a band can push its sound in a different direction to explore a different kind of emotion. Nothing to Nowhere is our offering with that sentiment in mind. The lyrics talk about life on the road - something we’ve become extremely acquainted with.

7. BROKE AND UGLY:

The title track of the album was written in a period of hard-times, financially speaking. Since this is more or less the general state of being for Evan in particular, who else would be better suited to lyrically immortalize this mindset. It’s catchy, it’s boppy, it’s snarky, and it has our favorite chorus on the album: “Got no money, and STILL fuckin’ ugly”! An anthem we hope at least SOMEBODY out there will relate to.

8. DOWN IN MEXICO:

Our bassist Henry wrote the main riff of this song, and it punched us in the gut so hard that we don’t deviate too far from it at any point through this song. It’s a real thresh, start to finish. We wrote it right before leaving for our tour through Mexico in the hopes that we could play the Mexican fans a ditty written JUST for them. Their response was unreal, show after show. We’re proud to have this one closing out the album with an absolute bang!