Beginning with the triumphant fanfare of "Hard Style,"
Diarrhea Planet's sophomore full-length album, 2016's Turn to Gold, rolls forth like a stoner rock take on
Bruce Springsteen's
Born to Run being blasted out the windows of a dragon mural-encrusted boogie van. The album follows up the goofily named Nashville outfit's breakthrough 2013 effort,
I'm Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dreams (and 2014 EP Aliens in the Outfield), and finds the band picking up where that album left off with a batch of exuberant, wild-eyed rockers that are equal parts
Dinosaur Jr.,
Cheap Trick, and
Van Halen. Primarily, Turn to Gold feels like a more tightly focused and edited production than the somewhat overstuffed
I'm Rich. With less filler, you can get more of a handle on lead singer/songwriter Jordan Smith's knack for balancing his albums with both balls-to-the-wall rock riffs and rootsy lyricism. In the former balls-out category on Turn to Gold, we get the fist-pumping euphoric "Life Pass" and head-pummeling "Ain't a Sin to Win," both of which sound something like if
Motörhead had entered the Eurovision Song Contest. Similarly, cuts like the driving "Bob Dylan's Grandma" and the surprisingly heartfelt "Ruby Red" have the reassuring, hand-on-your shoulder feel of '90s slacker rock bands like
Pavement and
Superchunk. And just when you think you can pin
Diarrhea Planet down to the felt board of ironic hipsterism with their cheeky, if admittedly kick-ass, lo-fi hair metal anthem "Hot Topic," they bury you under a tsunami of psychedelic guitars and raw, heartsick teenage emotion with the showstopping ballad "Lie Down." It's a revelatory, laser light show of song that suspends you in a sweat-soaked cloud of incense, tube-amp echo, and intense romantic love. It's the type of song on the type of album that sticks with you and colors the rest of your day -- hey, maybe even your life. Ultimately, with Turn to Gold,
Diarrhea Planet, a group with arguably one of the best-worst band names in rock history, have crafted their first truly great album. ~ Matt Collar