Turbo Lovers

The new Turbo Lovers album "Outstanding" available in mid-August from Cracked Piston Recordings! Visit www.crackedpistonrecordings.com to order!
Turbo Lovers is a three-piece rock band from Youngstown, Ohio. What started originally as a recording project has (d)evolved into the excessive, alcohol-fueled spectacle you see today.
Founded by ex-Hellvis/Fools Like You bassist Bradlee Van (a.k.a. B.J.) Lisko, the band has recorded two full-length efforts, "No Longer Attractive," and "Cock of the Walk," for Cracked Piston Recordings in Pittsburgh, Pa. Self-described as "Thirty-five minutes of 'Whole Lotta Rosie,' give or take," Turbo Lovers is the band Lisko says "Is the greatest rock 'n' roll band you've never seen, and probably never will."
ORDER TURBO LOVERS' "NO LONGER ATTRACTIVE" AND "COCK OF THE WALK" AT WWW.CRACKEDPISTONRECORDINGS.COM
DISCOGRAPHY:
2004 - A Tribute to Zodiac Mindward and the Love Reaction - Sleazegrinder Records - "King of Love."
2004 - No Longer Attractive (full length) - Cracked Piston Recordings.
2006 - Cock of the Walk (full length) - Cracked Piston Recordings.
2006 - Glamnation Vol. 2 - 272 Records - "I Am The Swagger."
2008 - Outstanding (full length) - Cracked Piston Recordings.
"Outstanding" review from Cleveland's Scene Magazine.
Turbo Lovers
Outstanding
(Cracked Piston)
myspace.com/youngstownturbolover
The Turbo Lovers started back in 2004, but their new album, Outstanding, is the first time founder and guitarist Bradlee Van Lisko recorded with an actual band and not just hired musicians. On first listen, the guitar tones sound too much like AC/DC. After a few more plays, however, songs like "Turn Me On" grab the attention of even the most cynical listeners. Lisko, who's been part of Youngstown's rock 'n' roll scene for years, sings about boredom and frustration in "Another Red Light" and "I Want It All." These lyrics actually have a point, unlike what passes for punk these days (you know, like the street life complaints of a 17-year-old from Orange County, California, whose parents own a $20 million house). - Wes Dodd
The Turbo Lovers perform with the Streetdevils at 9 p.m. Saturday, October 11, at the Spitfire Saloon (1539 W. 117th St., 216.226.7748.). FREE.
"Cock of the Walk" Review from ARTLESS NONCULTURE
2007 Cracked Piston Recordings
Fuckin' right! Ex-Hellvis bassist (and producer), BJ Lisko, put this out last year. It's actually kind of like "Part 2" of a recording project (and alter-ego?) of Lisko's that has since blossomed into a full-fledged, beer-soaked, high energy rock 'n roll band. A live rock 'n roll band. And get this: They're actually good.
Lisko describes their live set as "35 minutes of 'Whole Lotta Rosie'... give or take", and this disc is definitely true to that description. Stuffed to the hilt with songs that somehow manage out-right machismo without the sexist overtones, and showcase great musicianship while still displaying an uncanny knack for self-ego checking. Plus, they rock.
The only complaint I have is that some of the intros are a bit long-winded for my taste. The songs are all phenomenal otherwise, even the couple oddballs that took me a couple of listens to get used to ("Rock Star Aspirations" and "Pay Per Your View", which are now two of my favorites). The only song I still can't quite get into is "Rock 'n' Roll SOB". I just ain't feelin' it. But I know a lot of people like it, so it's probably just not my style or something. Highlights are the opening track, "I'll Be the One" (text book rock and roll), "Vegas Heat", "Decade Parade", and a cover of Robert Tepper's 1986 hit "No Easy Way Out" (you may remember it from Rocky IV).
As far as the whole "for fans of" thing goes, I hear New Bomb Turks, Rocket From the Crypt (a lot of the vocals, especially the backing arrangements, are very reminiscent of RFTC's Scream Dracula, Scream era), AC/DC, (REO) Speedealer, Electric Frankenstein, Motorhead... you get the idea. People tell me they also sound like Hanoi Rocks, and, not surprisingly, Judas Priest (hence the band's name), though I really couldn't tell ya. Obviously this band is musical common ground for punks, metalheads, and fans of glam / cock rock. If you fit one or more of these descriptions, check out this band. You won't be sorry.
--Sam Sinister
FREE TIMES review of "Cock of the Walk"
Turbo Lovers
Cock of the Walk
(Cracked Piston Recordings)
myspace.com/youngstownturbolovers
Featuring ex-members of Hellvis and Gauntlet, Youngstown's Turbo Lovers shake rock 'n' roll to its very foundation and deliver it in its most basic and timeless form. Their high-power release, Cock of the Walk, sounds like a cross between pop rock and the glam rock of the early 1980s with a little AC/DC mixed in for good measure. The band alludes to its early rock influence with the lyrics "money for nothing and the chicks for free," found in the track "Vegas Heat." The fast-rocking "I'll Be the One" and the guitar-driven "Some Kind of Freak" show this hell-raising band's great potential. — PK
Pittsburgh City Paper show preview
A friend once tried to explain "Youngstown-core," a musical genre exclusive to Youngstown involving aggressive loud guitars tempered with jokey tendencies derived from its regional inferiority complex. The Turbo Lovers would surely qualify. The trio recently released Cock of the Walk which blends massive hooks on the order of Guns and Roses, Priest and AC/DC with Ohioan vocals on songs like "Rock Star Aspirations." As bassist and vocalist Bradlee Van Lisko proclaims, "I rip off Huey Lewis and Krokus and my record rocks hard than yours." Tonight, the Turbo Lovers rock way harder than you at Excuses with local hosts The Cheats. — Aaron Jentzen
Sleazegrinder.com review of "No Longer Attractive."
I imagine that someday, perhaps when the pendulum swings back our way and those bitchin’ furry boots that Jim Dandy used to wear are back in fashion again, this will not be just a CDR w/Xerox sleeve, but a full-fledged, gatefold-sleeved rock n’ roll ALBUM, one to waste afternoons and braincells aplenty with as it bashes away in an endless loop on those big white spaceman headphones we used to have in the 70’s. Truly the pride of Youngstown, Ohio, Turbo Lover is an offshoot of BJ Lisko’s shitkicker punk n’ roll death machine Hellvis – only they drop any of the ‘billy or garage-punk stuff that Hellvis revel in, and just concentrate on pounding out manly, excessive, arena-wrecking hard rock. As the name implies, they’ve got a little Judas Priest in ‘em (hell, half the songs sound like they could mutate into Green Manalishi at any moment), but they give equal time to AC/DC, CCR, and Mercyful Fate (!), as well as slew of Midwest roots and punk rock bands. (Actually, I might just be reading in the TwinTone sound, but the other stuff, most definitely). There’s a dead-on cover of “Grinder” here, (naturally), as well as their riff raucous take on Zod’s “King of Love” from my very own Love Reaction tribute record, but there’s also seven superrocking originals, ranging from the greasy fist-in-face assault of “Ace in Flames” to the Husker Du-ish (!) highway rock of “On My Way”. As we often say in Boston, it’s fuckin’ pissah, bro. If truckers liked metal, then Turbo Lover would lead every convoy on the highway. — Sleazegrinder
"No Longer Attractive" review by ARTLESS NONCULTURE
TURBO LOVER "No Longer Attractive" // 2004 Cracked Piston Recordings
Turbo Lover? Turbo Lovers? HOW DO YOU SAY IT?? Who fucking cares? You like to rock, and so does BJ Lisko, and I kinda do sometimes, so LET'S ROCK! 7 originals and 2 covers at the very end as "BONUS TRACKS", it's all very worthy of your time. "Lettin' It Loose" is easily the best one... I don't know maybe I haven't listened to the whole thing more than once, but that opening track is killer, man! So the rest of it might be super-awesome. Maybe I will pop this one in, just to be totally fair... Okay, yeah. It rocks. It's a little more "hard rock" than Cock of the Walk, but not by much. Still very much a punk rock record, and if you don't believe me, tune in to WDVE and listen to your daddy's music for about an hour, then go back and put this on, and you'll understand what I mean. More AC/DC than Van Halen, that's for damn sure. My "non-choice" is the very slow "Drunk in Translation", and some of the other songs have the odd riff here and there that isn't really my cup of tea, but even the cheesiest-sounding song is made ten times better by Lisko's voice. Covers are "Grinder" by Priest and "King of Love" by some band called Zodiac Mind Warp. I'm dumb. Other favorite song other than "Lettin' It Loose" would be "Drive on", which is just under 4 minutes of high-energy rock and roll furiousness. Rock out with yer cock out! WOOOO!!