Despite punk being my genre and being relatively tapped into the music scene I must confess, it was only this year that Turnstile came onto my radar. I saw a video clip on Instagram of one of their live shows, and although the word “raw” is dreadfully overused for this genre, that was the energy that struck me and made me stop in my scrolling tracks. Wagering it must be some kind of archive footage from an old band I was surprised to find this was, in fact, present day punk. Since then, I’ve committed to being somewhat of a superfan. The band’s latest album “Never Enough” has been in heavy rotation for me this year. It’s blend of soaring, melodic vocal hooks and punching hardcore break-downs are frankly irresistible if not outright addictive. This record doesn’t shy away from shoegaze, ska, pop, ambient, flutes, yet it never feels scattered. Each song flows with intent, giving it coherence and allowing the moods to shapeshift ensuring that you stay within its musical orbit for the full duration without being kicked into the no mans land of silent space.
The most common criticism levelled at Never Enough is that it sounded too much like Glow On, which was probably brought on even more so by an opening track/lead single that sounded like an intentional rewrite of Glow On‘s opening track/lead single. But six months later, you don’t have to squint very hard to see this album’s unique identity shining through. Two of its best and most widely-loved songs sound kinda like The Police (“Seein’ Stars,” “I Care”), and Turnstile prove they can swing the pendulum all the way in that direction and still find them for some of their fiercest, fastest hardcore punk songs (“Birds,” “Sole,” “Sunshower”). “Never Enough” is loaded with some of the sharpest left turns in Turnstile’s catalogue; the Latin horns and reggae-ton beat in the otherwise heavy rock song “Dreaming,” the transition from headbanger riffs to club beats on “Look Out For Me,” and the explosive mosh part after the A.G. Cook-assisted sound collage in “Dull” still sound surprising even after you’ve heard them dozens of times. In classic Turnstile fashion, “Never Enough” finds them focused on pushing the catchiness, the experimentation, and the heaviness to new limits, and doing so their way and no one else’s.
It’s not a demanding record, all it asks of you is to dream, head bang, sing along and occasionally punch the ground. I’m sure there are some crusties out there who would not categorise this as a punk album: too produced, too many mixed genres, vocals too honeyed, but they’re wrong, this is ultimately a punk album and a really f**king good one.
The Fat Angel Sings 