I want to preface this article by saying that I love Turnstile. I love what they stand for and I love the community they have built around their music. They are, in my opinion, fully responsible for putting the hardcore genre into the public eye. The genre is bigger than it’s ever been thanks to them. Any one thats been to a show can attest to the overwhelming sense of inclusion the band gives off through their unique brand of positive aggression. Its undeniable and It’s hard to find that these days. Their ability to continue to adapt their sound to their ever-changing influences is what separates them from every other band in that space. They’ve been doing it since day one. I’m no hardcore purist and songs like “Blue by You” and “Love Lasso” off Nonstop Feeling and “Disco” off Time & Space are what gave their more traditional hardcore albums a more interesting sound. They tease a different direction that manifested in the feeling of GLOW ON. It’s something most bands don’t ever figure out and Turnstile were on the path to completely nail it, but with all that being said, listening to NEVER ENOUGH left me feeling disappointed.
It’s by no means a bad album, but after seeing their potential with GLOW ON their new album feels sort of uninspired. I think that if it was my introduction into Turnstile I would absolutely love it. It has everything that a new fan could ask for it’s heavy, but not too heavy, just enough to be broadly palatable, with cool etherial interludes that brings you down softly in between songs. It doesn’t seem that they took any risks with the majority of their sound, focusing on the softer elements on the album. But now that they’re on a bigger stage they need a more easily digestible sound. That’s also not a bad thing that’s just change, but at the same time it’s underwhelming.
The heavier parts of the album are really what lost me. It feels like the band is at a crossroads. They are trying to move away from their old sound while still retaining the essence of what brought them to this point and they can’t figure out how to balance the two. Listening to NEVER ENOUGH it’s pretty clear the impact that former guitarist, Brady Ebert, had on their overall sound, writing a large portion of the guitar pieces. GLOW ON, their initial step away from traditional hardcore, had unique and exciting guitar parts on every song that drew from a wide variety of different influences. It was the back bone of their entire sound. What we are left with feels lazily recycled and in a genre notorious for ripping sounds off each other Turnstile seems to be ripping off their own sound. NEVER ENOUGH begins to sound like it was made by a Turnstile cover band. The riffs in songs like “Sole,” “Seein’ Stars,” “Dull,” and “Dreaming” sound like they were copy and pasted from old songs with slight tweaks which makes the album kind of boring and leaves the hardcore elements of the album feeling a little watered down. And what is even is the solo in “Time Is Happening”? On top of that they seem to have moved in the other direction as far as songwriting is concerned. Looking back on their past albums the lyrics were interesting and obviously passionate. The lyrics on the entire album are surface-level and generally pretty boring.
Interestingly, the parts that seem to work the best in this album are the softer, more experimental parts. This is where their new sound really shines through, and you can tell this is where a majority of their efforts went. The new album takes you on a journey. My favorite songs off the album are the two lightest ones, “Light Design” and “I Care.” They both are fun 80’s pop-inspired songs that make you want to dance and they really bring to light what Turnstile can do when they put all their effort into a song. The synthie intro to “Light Design” feels like it could be on the soundtrack of a Kubrick movie. The first half of “Look Out For Me” is generic and unmemorable but then devolves into an upbeat house track. Bringing flutes, horns and organs to a hardcore album has rarely been done successfully and it makes for a more holistically interesting album. I wish they would have leaned into exploring their new sound instead of this tight rope walk between old and new sounds leaving both feeling incomplete.
As far as the album is concerned it sounds like a dumbed down version of GLOW ON. There isn’t a lot on this album that stands out, and I can’t see myself going back to any song from NEVER ENOUGH when I throw on Turnstile. But there is no love lost. I still love Turnstile and what they are doing for the culture. I like the new artsy vibe that the band is going for its fun and refreshing and you can tell they are really enjoying what they’re doing. At the end of the day that’s all that matters. I am not disappointed because I want them to stay true to their roots or whatever, but because I expected so much more out of them. I hope they continue to explore their new identity and I look forward to seeing where it takes them in the future.
mike v
I totally agree with all of this. When I first heard Turnstile years ago, they reminded me of Gorilla Biscuits and I thought they were really mainstreaming (in a good way) hardcore music. Now, this album feels like the yacht rock version of their older stuff. This Is Yachtcore.
Though, I don’t really hate it. I bet the next album will be a banger.