Turbo A.C.s

If you’ve ever listened to the Reverend Horton Heat and Motorhead back to back, the Turbo A.C.s want to be your new best friend. Hyper, sonic and smirkingly cynical, the Turbos have the chops and the smarts to jump into either bands’ seven-league boots and strut around kicking up a bodacious fuss all their own. Blasting off with a locomotive sample, “Mafioso” hits the tracks at breakneck speed with an insider’s view of the gangster life, then segues seamlessly into “Nightmare,” a hymn to the survival instinct. Throughout the next 10 cuts, frontman/guitarist Kevin Cole’s blend of rockabilly, punk and speed metal licks is supported and empowered by the race-with-the-devil abandon of drummer Kevin Prunty and Lemmy-loving bassist Michael Dolan. They even toss in a killer version of the Ventures’ surf instrumental “Apache” to affirm their awareness of and connection to rock history. Simultaneously pessimistic and celebratory, the songs on Automatic explore a zeitgeist equally obsessed with eternal fun and mortal consequences. The tension makes for a good party.Turbo A.C.'s play the Riff Raff Rock & Roll Bar on Monday, July 14.