A supergroup is a strange delicacy of rearranged genres and acquired tastes, musical hybrids where shit often hits the fan. With built-in followers from all walks of life, supergroups are in theory wise, in practice hit or miss, and in general rarely boring. It’s from this perspective that we ask: Where in the hell does Dave Grohl find the time and energy for any supergroup, much less Teenage Time Killers?
The “nicest man in rock” helms electric bass on about half of the delightfully sludgy songs on a guest-heavy, hardcore romp that had the gall to title its debut LP a greatest hits compilation. The music is strong and the force is stronger, as Teenage Time Killers attempt to hammer out their namesake with flair, blasting track after track of unrepentant volume that cuts like a hardcore DIY effort, glazed by moments that mosh between Black Sabbath séances and CKY videos with almost no blood to spare.
Teenage Time Killers’ melding of metal (“Power Outrage,” “The Dead Hand”), horror punk (“Devil in His House,” “Bleeding to Death”), and stoner psychedelia (“Crowned by the Light of the Sun,” “Days of Degradation”) makes industrial supergroup Pigface seem like a secondhand LEGO set from your neighbor’s goth kid. Props go out to Corrosion of Conformity and Foo Fighters for lending their leading men to a powerful cause, as well as phenomenal contributions from Sunn O)))’s Greg Anderson, the rarely tame Matt Skiba, and Slipknot/Stone Sour motormouth Corey Taylor being as poetic and vitriolic as expected without going full-blown Rage Against the Machine (“Egobomb”). And those are just a few of the superstar contributions.
I don’t know or care why this record exists, this bizarre shotgun blast where nearly every good song is played by a different lineup, but one thing is clear: I want another, sir. Hit me.
Essential Tracks: “Crowned by the Light of the Sun”, “The Dead Hand”
