Rio Turbo knows hedonism and cheese can make for an irresistible intoxicant. The Milwaukee singer-rapper is on his third round of aural intoxicants, but many of his usually too-brief songs on this eponymous release speak to the effects of illicit pharmaceuticals in tandem with copious copulation. Turbo’s androgynous flow gets wed to a gamut of synthetic vocal treatments and set to dance beats harkening back to Italian early ’80s electro-disco and the techno/rave of England a decade or so later.
It all makes for the soundtrack to a lifestyle of sleazy parties and club hopping, to which Turbo sounds well committed. If a bittersweet reflectiveness peers in through the haze on rare occasion, it may just be the drugs wearing off. Over the top with decadence though it is, Rio Turbo more than flirts with strains of EDM easy to imagine hearing on current pop radio.
