Punks rejoice! Here are your two favorite mediums working together in eye-watering beauty. Cutting out the middle man, Silver Sprocket combo packs comics and tunes, taking off on cartoonist Mitch Clem’s idea to take bands’ tales from the road and translate them into ink and watercolor; tack on a 7” slab o’ wax by said band, and you’ve got yourself Turnstile Comix. In the latest issue, the orchestrative jazz punks, The World/Inferno Friendship Society, who have as many members as their name is long, get into a brawl in the middle of their set with an unnamed straight edge band and thwart an ironic defamation campaign. This gets even more chuckles when taking into account that TWIFS look like a bunch of squares. Dressed as if coming home from the office, Jack Terricloth and fellow coworkers are suited up in smart haircuts and shiny, snappy shoes. While the band’s lineup in the comic sports a full saxophone ensemble, the roster of mates has since tapered down. After some shuffling, the seven current members featured on the record still stick to the cabaret jazz punk formula with violin, alto sax, and piano to round out the standard bass, guitar, drums, vocalist norm. Layering sounds like a klezmer band, they skootch and squeeze until each member and their appliance has their time to shine. A hint of clean piano keys can be eked out in “The Faster You Go The Better You Think,” amidst the violin bridge and alto sax line, while “Pickles and Gin” leans into bar room pomp and sway reminiscent of an ‘80s boozy Tom Waits.
–Kristen K. (Silver Sprocket Bicycle Club)