Trampled By Turtles, Palomino (2010)

Written by Bill Whiting – billwhiting01@yahoo.com

Hailing from Duluth, Minnesota, Trampled By Turtles returns the kick to front porch swing on their alluring new release, Palomino. An acoustic quintet consisting of Tim Saxhaug on bass, Ryan Young on fiddle, Erik Berry on mandolin, Dave Carroll on banjo and Dave Simonett on guitar and lead vocals, Trampled By Turtles pioneers new ground on Palomino while paying homage to the past. It’s an exhilarating trip that pays big dividends on the punk laced opener, “Wait So Long.” Simonett’s solid singing accelerates in tempo as TBT reaches a fever pitch of fire brand pickin’ and grinnin’ during “Wait So Long’s” central melody. “Victory” turns on the interactive talents of Berry’s mandolin runs and Carroll’s colorful brush strokes on banjo. “It’s a War” is an appropriate title for the third number, as Young’s fiddle shreds along furiously to the ensemble’s power driven improvisations on the instrumentally volatile track. There are endless gems on Palomino including standouts “Separate,” “New Son/Burnt Iron” along with “Gasoline”, and Trampled By Turtles’ arrangements and pacing on the album move along with a breezy, effortless feel to them. Bringing down home country back to the high and lonesome tones of bluegrass is the successful equation that Trampled By Turtles achieves on Palomino. Largely written by Simonett, and engineered with the assistance of Erik Koskinen, Rich Mattson, and Chad Weis, Palomino is a masterful blending of quality song craft and punchy, aggressive musical blow outs.

http://trampledbyturtles.com/