Review: Turnstile - Glow on
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| Label: Roadrunner |
TURNSTILE have that special kind of something. Whoever is doing all their art-stuff is a genius. In the year 2021 that's a cool thing to have with Social Media getting more dominant day in, day out. There are already two TURNSTILE-shirts in my closet and that says a lot cause usually this closet is dominated by shirts from already defunct bands or oldtimers. The group out of Baltimore, Maryland always had the ability to break borders and put Hardcore on maps where it has not been before. And now they have the record to pack it up.
"Glow on" already entered the Billboard-Charts at 30, in Germany it even grabbed the 9th place of the album charts! That's pretty amazing. In the 2000s it became the new normal when HC-related bands entered the charts. But when this massive hype faded, Hardcore got once again relegated to niche music and never really recovered in the 2010s. Hell, there was probably no weaker decade when it comes to Hardcore-bands breaking that border to reach listeners outside of our small bubble. It was dry. And you could feel it.
Still, in this very decade there was a band that rose out of the ashes of Hardcore and garnered more and more supporters with every new release: TURNSTILE. As you probably read a few times now, this is an album that could bring HC new listeners. An album that has the possibility to boost the popularity of HC in Mainstream. What's cool is, that it doesn't feel contrived. TURNSTILE always had this record in them. They were danceable when I got to know them, back in 2013, with the still awesome "Step 2 Rhythm". And they used clean vocals back then. Sure, "Glow on" is not as heavy on Mosh-parts as TURNSTILE's early stuff, but besides all the elements they incorparte in their new style, this is still a HC-record. The trademark-groove is present as ever, the songs are fast most of time and also shorter as some earlier cuts.
The various elements (New Wave, Surf-Punk, Post-Punk, straight up Schmaltz-Pop, Alternative Metal, sparks of Hip-Hop, Synths, Organs, Percussions, a drum computer, and so on) are woven smoothly into their basic tone and it just feels natural all the way. The clean vocals are very solid and the choruses are catchy as fuck. "Glow on" is just pure and utter fun, it is light footed and positive and it is indeed a "Dance-Off". It's also pretty balanced. There is no Uber-Hit, but there are some instant classics, like "Mystery" or "Holiday" that are already everybody's darling. "Underwater Boi" is in the same leauge for me, but I'm sure that song will polarize. Then there's something like the 45-second long "No Surprise", which is nothing more but an Electro-Pop-Interlude but it has the capability to stuck in your ears for days to come. Not every song hits home but still "Glow on" stays entertaining with all those nice little ideas that sometimes just stay nice little ideas. Most of the tracks offer these moments and/or new elements. It's like walking through a candy store. I'm not high on the cheesy ballad "Alien Love Call" but neither am I on Haribo's "Happy Cola". TURNSTILE take risks and therefor "Glow on" stays highly entertaining as an album. To put it simple, this is probably what "Time & Space" ought to be...
...now I was wondering if TURNSTILE already peaked with "Glow on" or if this record is the beginning of a new, glorious chapter. Both could be possible. But If I had to guess I would say the latter. At least they have all the tools to build upon this rather unique and somewhat eye-opening style, to even top their current album in the years to come. I'm curious anyway!
Until then this will be the perfect HC-record to turn off your head and party hard. I propose to call this new TURNSTILE-style one of the following Genre-terms:
* Popcore
* Popcorncore
* Partycore
* Dancecore
* Fluffycore
* Candycore
* Wavecore
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Disney Channel Hardcore
ReplyDeleteNice addition :-D
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