Rock'N'Roll Saviours
“The band had no choice but to pick up guitars and drums, write a set and start playing rock’n’roll. And we’re just as fantastic at rock’n’roll as we were at professional wrestling.”
Psychotic Turnbuckles
The story goes that it was a fan-created Facebook page that led, nearly two decades after the boys hung up their wrestling regalia and accompanying instruments, to Psychotic Turnbuckles reuniting, initially for one night only in December last year, and three further shows since, finishing up in the city the Pismo Beach expats called home during their mid-to-late '80s heyday. Were they surprised the love was still there for a group resplendent in green and yellow wigs (though they'll deny that!), spandex and wrestling regalia?
“It comes with the turf, you see,” The Psychedelic Unknown, bass player with the proto-rock/punk/surf/garage combo, admits. “The Psychotic Turnbuckles being idolised is just part of the package. The rock fans out there need something to look up to, and it should be us, basically.”
Admittedly, the “fun” at the core of the Turnbuckles aesthetic has been sorely missed in Sydney in the years they've been absent, that aesthetic spelt out loud and proud in the Rob Younger-produced 1986 mini-album that gives their double-CD retrospective its title, Destroy Dull City, which also includes the 1988 Beyond The Flipout album, unreleased demos, outtakes and more, along with, on the second CD, the complete singles A and B-sides, all remastered from the original vinyl by Harry Williamson from Gong – “It's just our little gift to the world.”
“This is why we decided to come back for these four shows only, because things are just getting way out of control. Things are just going down the toilet – iPods, digital downloads, The Voice, Creed – you name it, this was our reason for coming back. We just need to give the people out there of the rock a taste of the real life, a little bit of sunshine.”
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The band “history” tells us the Turnbuckles were originally from Pismo Beach, California – “The most beautiful place in the world, the best clam chowder you'll ever find, a 200-metre pier, beautiful girls, Bugs Bunny on TV 24 hours a day, the best bands in the world playing in every bar…” But an unfortunate disagreement within the local wrestling scene that saw them banned forced singer Jesse The Intruder, guitarists The Grand Wizard and El Sicodelico, original bass player The Creep and the now sadly departed original drummer, The Spoiler, whose place will be filled by Gorgeous Karl Domah on the night, to leave for foreign shores.
“The transformation into musicians happened by necessity,” The Unknown mythologises. “The band had no choice but to pick up guitars and drums, write a set and start playing rock'n'roll. And we're just as fantastic at rock'n'roll as we were at professional wrestling.”
Hitting Dull City running with “40 songs written on the flight from Pismo Beach to Sydney – there was a free bar tab back in those days on the air trips – a lot of inspiration there”, within a few months they'd become inner city darlings as much for the comedy as their ability to pump out a potent mix of Nuggets-style '60s garage meets Birdman, JO'K and Supernaut. From boutique DIY indie releases to signing with US label Sympathy For The Record Industry, over their dozen years together they released three full albums, a mini-album and a plethora of singles, EPs and compilation tracks, always popular though never interfering too much with the charts.
In the 15 years between drinks, the Turnbuckles, we're assured, returned to Pismo Beach, “laying on the beach, drinking champagne, hanging out with supermodels counting our money,” or at least until the rallying cry came to save us from Dull City once more.
“Dull City is a frame of mind. Dull City can be anywhere, but we plan to eradicate Dull City, if you choose it to be eradicated.”
Psychotic Turnbuckles will be playing the following dates:
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