Review - Turn

For their first album since 2001's intensely rockin' Dizzy Spells, everyone's favorite collective of Dutch anarchists does not disappoint. Spreading 14 songs across two discs, Turn is another in-your-face amalgam of coiled politics and razor-wire guitar work. With a decidedly more percussive attack this time around, there's also evidence of the group's recent tour of Ethiopia, most impressively in the form of an Addis-flavored instrumental ("Getatchew," which ultimately sounds like an Ex-go-to-Ethiopia song), but also in the surprisingly easygoing manner that this group of firebrands takes to their pulpit. No, it's not mellow by any stretch of the imagination, nor have The Ex softened their political stances. It just seems that where there were once sharp angles and militant cries, a certain rhythmic flow has worked its way into the music.