E.P. Review: Turkey Vulture - Twist The Knife
Reviewed by Paul Hutchings
Small things in small packages can still pack a punch. ‘Twist the Knife’, the third E.P. from Connecticut couple Turkey Vulture is over before you’ve had time to digest it. Eight minutes and four songs means everything is banged into place quickly. Described as “too metal to be punk and two punk to be metal”.
Combining influences that include Johnny Cash and Motörhead, the husband and wife team of frontwoman Jessie May and drummer John Clegg are relentless, with a mix of clean and rough, aggressive vocals which surface over a range of short, sharp blasts of raging riffs and thrashing drumming.
Exploring themes of existing in a false reality through the first two tracks, ‘Fiji’ and ‘Livestock on Our Way to Slaughter’, Turkey Vulture then move to gothic fantasy with the song ‘Where the Truth Dwells’, a pulsing battery which explores a werewolf’s change. The E.P. concludes with ‘She’s Married (but not to me)’ which is so fast it’s almost over before it starts.
‘Twist the Knife’ carries some darkness within, something that maybe needs to be extracted carefully. It’s a unique and enjoyable blast. Something to jump around to and despite the deeper messages, it can also be fun.
