ok so the playlists were fun but i’m writing about music again and mostly going to review new releases. if i write about something old, consider it a free rec on something sick.
big record of the week
TURNSTILE - NEVER ENOUGH
6/10
They were damned from the start. Turnstile could not have released a follow-up to GLOW ON that could live up to GLOW ON’s moment in time. How could anything match that? It was the soundtrack to the end of the pandemic and a return to something that resembled normalcy. Think about the energy you had when school let out for the summer, and then multiply that by itself for however many years you’ve been out of school and got to feel a way you hadn’t felt in decades.
The discourse around Turnstile’s new record, NEVER ENOUGH, included lots of hemming and hawing about whether or not the band was still hardcore from people I’ve never seen write about hardcore, let alone any stripe of punk rock. There were accusations of “selling out” or “making Taco Bell commercial music” around this album, and frankly it’s just nice to see people finally enter 2021. I have bad news about what’s coming. Turnstile is no longer looking to break into big spaces, they’ve been there for four years.
If anything, this record lacks the ambition found on GLOW ON. Every song on here is another fork found in kitchen. It’s all serviceable arena rock music meant for NHL stadiums and road trips, but nothing hits the same way that previous records did. It’s got a glossy finish and some new guitar effects, but it’s not changing anything. Every previous Turnstile record is representative of a sea change in their corner of the world, even if just aesthetic-based. Nobody could touch Turnstile, let alone rip them off without being caught red-handed. They defined the space around them by being unique and unapologetically themselves. The shows never changed, and the fans didn’t either. There were just more of them every single time they stepped on stage.
I don’t really like NEVER ENOUGH right now. I’m sure something could change. I didn’t love GLOW ON at first listen, but seeing those songs in person changed that. Would that happen with this record? I’m less confident in that. I like a lot of the songs enough, they’re Turnstile songs after all, but there’s nothing on this record that pops the way other Turnstile releases popped. The piano in the chorus on “High Pressure,” the goofy jock-rock intro to “Gravity,” these are memorable moments not only in the band’s catalog, but in hardcore.
NEVER ENOUGH lacks any of those big swings. One thing I’ve been able to count on with this band is a head-scratcher like “Blue By You,” “Right To Be,” or “UNDERWATER BOI,” and this record does not have any of those. It’s all a little expected for anyone who’s paid attention to them for the last decade. I can’t blame them for any of it and it’s to say nothing of who these guys are as artists, because lord knows they’ve been punching the genre into new spaces. While GLOW ON benefitted from its moment, NEVER ENOUGH is a victim to its timing. It’s not bad, it’s just four years later and whatever they released, it would never be enough.
P.S. i saw you cornballs moshing in the movie theater and i never want to see it again
more stuff i listened to
RETIREMENT - ATTENTION ECONOMY
8/10. FFO: flipper, no trend, bleach-era nirvana. nasty record. never been more convinced of someone’s vitriol on an album.
ALIENATOR - MEAT LOCKER
9/10. oh great another record i’m gonna call a “straight-up ripper” to someone’s face and not be embarrassed about it like i should be. i love an evil record. the art is great, too. weapons-grade hardcore, should be considered for NATO membership with all these divebombs
PURELINK - FAITH
👽/10. Not an exaggeration: ambient record that my neighbor asked me to turn down.
thx for reading, more soon.
The best thing about the new stadium tour that Turnstile is doing is the openers. Speed is a little corny but Jane Remover and Mannequin Pussy oh hell yes
new alienator better hit streaming before i kill myself