Scandinavian Leather

Less punk than 1996's Ass Cobra and more rock than 1998's excellent Apocalypse Dudes, Scandinavian Leather is everything a proper rock album should be: there's pomp (strings pop up on "Wipe It 'Til It Bleeds" and again on "Fuck the World"), shout-along anthems (check out the driving, fists-in-the-air chorus of "Remain Untamed") and even the occasional, self-indulgent guitar solo. Songs like "Sell Your Body (to the Night)" and "Train of Flesh" are dark and seedy, but this danger is of the cartoon sort, about as menacing (and entertaining) as Itchy & Scratchy. Fortunately, Turbonegro don't write music to be taken seriously; they write music that rocks and that's just what Scandinavian Leather delivers. In abundance. --Robert Burrow