Full of punk spirit, Dog Collar's Turbo Squid is a frenetic, feverish journey through electronic music.
Reviewed by Ash
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As always, please remember to support Dog Collar by streaming, or even better, purchasing this album! I've provided links to the project on Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud, and Bandcamp.
LAST WEEK, I FOUND MYSELF very excited to review Kid Reno's Techno for Children and Dogs, a record which I rapidly fell in love with over its diverse, intensely creative, utterly head-spinning production. (Feel free to read our full review of Techno for Children and Dogs, attached here!) Imagine my surprise when I found out that Dog Collar a.k.a. Sunil Prabhu, who can invariably be found by Kid Reno's side during their joint live performances, had also released a concurrent album. Going in, I hoped that Dog Collar's Turbo Squid would follow and expand upon the strengths already showcased in Kid Reno's latest LP, as well as those in his own previous release, sunil album 3, released back in May. Additionally, I was eager to compare the two producers and unpack the musical ideas they share in common, while also interrogating how they each pursue their own distinct artistic journeys.
After listening through a few times, I'm pleased to say that Turbo Squid gave me all that and more. With nine tracks and 38 minutes of runtime, Dog Collar gives himself enough space to fully flesh out and explore each and every musical idea on the record; no one track is shorter than two and a half minutes, and I was never left feeling like a song had ended too soon. In my Kid Reno review, I had previously commented that Techno for Children & Dogs sounded like it was made for the dance floor, and while that is still true, it also had its fair share of meditative, chilled-out, and even peaceful moments amidst all its dance and techno influences. On the other hand, Turbo Squid brings a nonstop frenetic energy that doesn't let up for the entire album. The tracklist is stuffed with bangers that would feel right at home blasting out of massive speakers at a nightclub somewhere. Dog Collar wants you to headbang, and he doesn't want you to stop for a moment until the album is done and you're utterly spent. While I will readily admit to not being especially familiar with Dog Collar's brand of ultra-energetic, serrated, hard-edged dance music, this album provided a unique experience I'm not likely to forget anytime soon.
The dynamic duo, Kid Reno (left) and Dog Collar (right), putting on a joint live performance together.
Our first taste of the album comes in the form of desolate, distant synth leads over manipulated robotic voices in the opening track, "Eye in the Sky". Soon enough, a frenzied, chaotic breakbeat enters as the chords develop a decidedly ominous tone and a high synth arp starts subtly lining the chords. A wubby slide bass and diverse drum fills define the next section of the track, which seems to have the ultimate goal of inducing spine-breaking levels of headbanging in the listener. The vibes are very hard-edged and punk right out of the gate, which I love; the track's dusty-sounding snare samples and heavy, modulating bass repeatedly recur throughout the record, keeping the punk vibes going strong. Despite the record's heavily electronic sound, Dog Collar has managed to utterly capture the spirit of punk on this record, which is something that caught my intrigue right away.
"Very Tired" sees various computer machinery sound effects giving the intro to this track a bit of an apocalyptic cyberpunk aesthetic that I thought worked really well with Dog Collar's sound. Cool reversed drums and a growling bass orient us by giving us a sense of rhythm before the breakbeat enters. The reversed drums lend a really cool sense of movement to the track, and the track undergoes some subtle rhythmic changes headed into the second half that constantly feed the listener something new to fixate on. Dog Collar continually switches up his drum patterns and breakbeats for a truly dynamic soundscape, making it so that I, as a listener, was never bored. We even get this interesting, Atari-sounding bitcrushed synth arp towards the back end of the track that I thought was a really great piece of sound design and sound selection.
Two kick drums and a rubbery bassline make for an especially funky and danceable vibe right away on the following track, "Multi Split Scan". An offbeat, acoustic-sounding snare and warm analog synth pads further cement this vibe; even when the track undergoes a bit of a mood switch and the chords become more dissonant, the vibes remain funky. We get a true beat switch at the song's halfway point, when the track changes key and the drums go half-time over a sick, oscillating bass patch that gives the resulting soundscape a significantly darker, green-tinted vibe. You could have told me that this whole song had stepped right out of the soundtrack for The Matrix and I wouldn't have batted an eye; it really is that good. Dog Collar's work with drums and synthesizers on this track combined with killer bass melodies make this one of my favorite instrumentals on the record.
Sampled Gregorian chanting forms the foundation of the instrumental to "greg"; Dog Collar manipulates the various vocal chops in interesting ways to create a layered melody with a lot of rhythmic movement. The choppy breakbeat and subtle sub bass adds a distinctly menacing vibe. The chops become increasingly digitized and robotic-sounding in the track's middle section, where the drums drop out to let us focus on the increasingly mangled vocals at the center of the song. Like Kid Reno's "YOU CAN'T KILL THEM ALL_145", this track really made me develop an appreciation for Dog Collar's talents as a sampler and manipulator of audio.
Thankfully, the impressive sampling work doesn't end there, as a sped-up, chipmunked pop sample forms the heart of the next track, "froufrou". Dog Collar's added drums give the sample an interesting cinematic tilt; I really like the sound selection for the drums on this track in particular, as the super punchy and powerful snare feels like a natural fit with Dog Collar's established sound. The regular-speed version of the sample occasionally surfacing is also a really nice arrangement touch, and I love the moments when the vocals poke through the mix and come to the front before then once more being submerged beneath the insane production. As the track continues, the offbeat groove becomes supplemented with saw melodies and a trap-style 808 bass. I don't quite know how to articulate the mix of emotions that the pop sample and frenetic, hard-edged production makes me feel, but I think it's a really nice combination and it certainly made for one of the most unique and enjoyable listens on the record.
"Revolutionary Girl" brings more sampling trickery as we get stacked and manipulated choral vocal samples. About a minute in, a growling, distorted synth bass appears that mimics the vocal melody in cool ways. The amplitude-modulated lead synth that enters at the track's halfway point is also a nice touch that furthers the wild spirit of this song. Dog Collar also gives us a new arrangement of the vocal sample shortly afterwards, with the rest of the synth parts updated to match. Dog Collar's melodies really shine on this track, as everything comes together to create a thoroughly feverish and energetic experience that is sure to fuel many dance floors to come.
On "Praise Dobbler", a really richly textured, warm analog pad plays seventh chords under a slightly bitcrushed lead vocal before an insane, uptempo drum pattern enters. Despite the breakneck tempo, this song has a relatively chill atmosphere compared to others on the album, and the synth pad and vocals go together perfectly. We slow down a little bit when the drums go halftime, giving us a brief moment to breathe before we kick back into full speed. I don't know if I'd exactly characterize this track as "relaxing" in isolation, but in context with the rest of the record, it's a little calmer and I appreciate the unique vibe it cultivates very much.
The final two tracks feature the only guest performer on the record, alsoknownasrox—whom I assume helped out with the production. "Turbo Track" opens with an African-sounding bongo pattern under an orchestral string sample, which lends this track a heavily cinematic feel. Soon, chopped-up rap vocals enter, broken up into various chunks that are then scattered over the arrangement in interesting ways. A reversed lead synth and harmonically-rich synth bass continue feeding the listener interesting things to hold onto. I also love the incorporation of what sound like subtle guitar power chords; although mixed very low, whatever that particular sound element is, it works perfectly in the context of the full song. As the track enters its final act, rich strings return, playing an ascending melody; the vibes of this track are unmistakably large in scale and cinematic at heart. Truly one of the most turbo tracks of all time.
Dog Collar doesn't make us wait long for the sequel, since "Turbo Track Two" follows immediately after as the final track on the album. It begins with an expansive-sounding organ sample over pounding, tight kick drums that modulate and change timbre as the song goes on. The drums drop out a bit later in the track, replaced by chimes that make for a momentary break in the action, leading us into a clean, simple breakbeat that ends the album on a more muted note. As much as I respect Dog Collar's decision to not go super maximalist just because it's the last track, I do wish the track carried a little bit more dynamism and variation. Maybe it's a factor of its length; at only two minutes and thirty seconds, "Turbo Track Two" doesn't get anywhere near as long as the other tracks do to develop and progress its musical ideas. Either way, though, the ending track wasn't my favorite, though it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the record too much.
Speaking of my enjoyment of the record, in case it wasn't clear already, I really like this album. Coming into this album fresh off of having just fallen in love with Techno for Children and Dogs made for an interesting experience as well, as Dog Collar gives us something significantly more wild, intense, and punk that nonetheless also demonstrates a really solid and well-rounded skill set. His acumen for melodies, arrangement, sound design, sound selection, drum programming, and general creativity are all on display in full force here. The LP feels very cohesive; similar sound selection and production choices run through all nine tracks, generating a very strong feeling of being pulled firmly into Dog Collar's universe for 38 minutes. The album feels like a condensed package of potential energy; the sheer amount of forceful potency and wild exultation radiating from the music make it a thoroughly memorable, albeit very intense, listening experience. I can't wait to hear these tracks live; at the next Dog Collar/Kid Reno live show, look around, and there's a fairly good chance you might see me very much enjoying myself!
Personal enjoyment score: 8 out of 10
Standout tracks: "Multi Split Scan", "froufrou", "Praise Dobbler", "Turbo Track"
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