I’ve only heard a smattering of the Baltimore-based hardcore band Turnstile over the last few years. Not enough to have an opinion one way or the other. Lots of hype and lots of “critical acclaim”, or whatever that means. But having listened to their new album NEVER ENOUGH more than a few times the last couple days I can say they sound nothing like I assumed they would. The “hardcore” name tag elicits a certain regimented sound, vibe, feel, etc…and Turnstile defies the hardcore mission statement, to beautiful effect.
The band, which currently includes Brendan Yates(lead vocals, keyboards, synthesizer, percussion, production), Franz Lyons(bass, backing vocals, percussion), Meg Mills( rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Pat McCrory(lead guitar, backing vocals), and Daniel Fang(drums, percussion), seem to enjoy mixing up their sound. From hardcore punk wallops to new wave synth splashes and even early 80s rock ala The Police, Turnstile are bound and determined to keep the listener guessing. On their new album NEVER ENOUGH they stick to that “you’ll never peg us” mission statement, and to surprising effect.
Title track and album opener “NEVER ENOUGH” hits us with lush synth tones and vocalist Brenden Yates’ shimmering vocals. Soon enough we get some crunchy guitars and pummeling drums while never losing the high of that opening. Synth pop, hardcore, with a healthy dose early 2000s Epitaph Records vibes. “SOLE” switches gears into a near metal frenzy as chunky guitars come blazing out of the speakers. Mosh pits, be damned. Then just as you’re ready to bring your A-game to the stage diving “I CARE” comes out like The Police and The English Beat’s love child. This is whiplash for the senses.
NEVER ENOUGH continues this back and forth punk-meets-heart on sleeve joy ride throughout. From the chugging metal/ska jam of “DREAMING” to the punk blast of “SUNSHOWER”(Yates sounds A LOT like Perry Farrell here) to The Fixx-esque vibe of “SEEIN’ STARS” Turnstile leave no genre or decade unturned. They pull from quite an eclectic music palate and I’m here for it.
Given that I don’t know much about Turnstile except this album I can’t really compare to past records. But I’d imagine this is a huge step forward for the band. Excited to see where they go from NEVER ENOUGH.
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I like your honest analysis and assessment of both your knowledge and limitation thereof (both of Baltimore based music – and speaking for myself – hardcore in general – as I did not traditionally keep up with those trends after finding out about groups like Hawkind, Melt Banana, and Genghis Tron – for me it just sounded like a much more innovative and potentially creative approach to what was essentially a “hardcore style” of music – this is also what attracts me to groups like Youth Code – they have a surprising amount of energy (and talent) to give for a 2 person band (interestingly enough, the with 2 people, 1 screaming, and one with an analog synth – I’ve found to be more authentic and honestly enjoyable than a great deal of live music that I would consider “in the game” today as far as the genres of industrial/hardstyle/edm – groups like Wulfband share a similar hardcore aesthetic I’ve found but are a more traditional band that sounds really janked up/sped up Einsterzende Neubauten – Boy Harsher are actually another good example of a 2 person techno/industrial group that literally “cleans the F up” when they come to town (iykyk) –
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In trying to think beyond the process of reviewing potential music as good or bad – I think it’s possible that the only way forward for the hardcore style genre, or any genre – is forward thinking rather than back – i.e – it’s possible for a genre like hardcore to be commonly associated with skinhead culture/hate speech/and radical ideas in general – and as a Jewish individual who likes hardcore music occassionally but also maybe looks like some skinheads – this is not a good combination – concerning music and art collectively – I believe the focus/emphasis needs to be on radical creative expression that also embraces some aspect of goodness/positivity in a world that is closed off to so much – – – authenticity has also become part of the music game however – simply in terms of artistic expression and actual integrity as an artist – in other words, I believe that one of the many reasons Youth Code is able to deliver such a stellar performance is because they are hard to recreate, and with the decrease in availability of music tools like most analog equipment (could potentially be guitars/basses/etc – any physical instrument that is not otherwise a prop of some kind) – Spotify for example has become – i’ll not say saturated – but inundated with swaths of newer AI artists – none of which are really very good, but many of which get otherwise more “cred” than traditional and/or organic artists that exist on the platform – this is becoming a dangerous trend because many individuals, particularly those in underserved communities have been desperate for attention/publicity/expression in some way/shape/form for the majority of their existence (in some cases) – but were not necessarilly given the right tools or wherewithal to foster/train creative talents, one of these tools is reinforcement (postive or negative – i.e – when an authority says you are not talented – this develops patterns of learned helplessness over time whereby the individual and/or animal will essentially just stop.
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Hey. Truly appreciate your in-depth response, as well as giving me some musical avenues to go down. Not familiar with Youth Code, but I am a fan of Boy Harsher. Lots to unpack here.
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