Oh no! Hank Van Helvete is now ex-TBNGR

You'd never know it if you hadn't seen it on Australian music news site Undercover and the online outlet for Unbelievably Bad zine, as all other reportage online is in Norwegian, but the Apocalypse is upon us and Hank has cut and run from Turbonegro. Not to become a Scientologist (although those rumours keep spinning around) but to dry out, good and proper.

Whether that draws a line under TBNGR is uncertain (although Unbelievably Bad seems to think it's a done deal.) Seeing Hank recently spent time in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar, perhaps it was time to hang up the denim jacket. 

Norwegian families spread Turbonegro love in Indonesia

Here's a gem I found on the Turbonegro site. It's from reality show Den Store Reisen (The Big Journey) on Norwegian TV station NRK, in which families are shipped off to the jungles of Indonesia to live with the Mentawai tribe.

The song is "I Got Erection". I'm told by Queensland writer Andrew Stafford, who recently took a trip to Norway, that Tubonegro are quite mainstream up that way.

On a more serious note, TBNGR are playing a few shows in Europe with Euroboy declaring he's cancer-free after his recent run of treatment.

Deathpunk comes in many forms

Turbonegra are an all-girl Turbonegro tribute band from San Francisco. Here's some footage from their current German tour.

Sympathy For Sale

The ad's genuine. Read on...

FOR SALE Preeminent Independent Record Label

Sympathy For The Record Industry

$625,000.00 or $700,000.00 if i don't like you

Known for a multitude of things including releasing early efforts by Hole, The White Stripes, Turbonegro, Rocket from the Crypt and The 5,6,7,8's as well as resurrecting the classic music of immortals such as Roky Erickson, New York Dolls, Suicide, The Gun Club, Spacemen 3, The Scientists and Wanda Jackson and lets not forget the serious concentration on a plethora (like that word??) of bands in hot beds such as Memphis, Detroit and Montreal and also being among the first to look towards the Far East to unleash the demented and curious off-kilter sounds of those crazed ornamentals (Asians to you of a p.c. mindset)...
So what?? 'Big deal' you say, well, Sympathy has also worked with underated and seemingly unsung heroes like Billy Childish, The Oblivians, Holly Golightly la la la etc and are hailed for recognizing and employing important visual artists to create wonderous covers by Mark Ryden, Camille Rose Garcia, Yoshitoma Nara, Liz Mcgrath, Coop, The Pizz, Dan Clowes blah blah blah la la la etc ad infinitum...
Sympathy are also responsible for releasing records by untold bands of differing degrees of talent with really cool names like The Pleasure F*ckers, Banana Erectors, Anal Babes, Candypants, Teenage Larvae, Tri-State Kill Spree, Iowa Beef Experience, The Child Molesters, Penetration Moon, Smegma, Ethyl Meatplow, The Spaceshits and Destroy All Monsters...

Single-handedly responsible for lowering the standards of the entire record industry...

includes:
questionable/nebulous rights to nearly 750 releases by over 550 bands
current distribution deal with foremost U.S. independent distributor with strong international distribution as well
existing stock modestly estimated at a wholesale value of 1.8 millon dollars
all master tapes, acetates, stampers and mothers to continue production of titles
massive personal archive of sympathy rarities (lots of amazing surprises)
preliminary cover layouts/some original artwork/interesting and valuable artifacts galore
established web site and vastly lucrative mail order business

over 30 snappy sarcastic slogans featuring much-loved heavy-hitters:

"We almost really care'
"Is a force this powerful going to be overlooked by an industry that needs all the Sympathy it can get"
"You've tried the rest now go f*ck yourself"
"Sound and fury signifying nothing" (ok, we stole that one from Shakespere)
"West coast perpetrators of the finest in musical mayhem"
"The most favoritest populars, cost so little goody you like 'em"
'A name you can pronounce since 1988"
'18 years of performance anxiety, instability and poor judgement'
'We just don't know when to gve up'
"A tradition of obscurity and obsolescence"

incomprehensible bad reputation included at no additional cost

interested parties contact long gone john (anti-mogul/fat cat/accidental c.e.o.) at sympathy13 [at] aol [dot] com

Sympathy is a great label that's been home to lots of great bands. That Long John Gone is of the opinion it's going nowhere may be symptomatic of outstanding rock and roll music as we know it gradually going under - or he might just be shagged out.

Podcast Number Five...

...is live here. Leave a comment so I know you care. Ignore the stat counter too. The host seemes to be only counting the times the thing is streamed from their site to your desktop (you can also subscribe via various podcatchers, or download the MP3 to your desktop for your listening pleasure.)

This episode's Special Features: A Stooge of an intro and a special station I.D. from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Plus, you get an exclusive listen to the forthcoming Turbonegro single.