Hardcore is very much an all-encompassing genre with many subsections and crossovers, and there will always be debate as to what hardcore really is. Some will argue it’s a certain sound, and some will say it’s the feeling and the ethic that an individual possesses. Take for example the metallic crunch of Chicago’s Harms Way, and the youth crew pioneers Gorilla Biscuits. The sound these bands have are quite literally nothing like each other, but are both considered hardcore because of the feeling. On their debut album ‘Nonstop Feeling’, Turnstile have taken the true spirit and feeling of hardcore by creating a burst of energy that sounds like neither of the aforementioned bands, yet is still very much a hardcore record.
Recorded with Brian McTernan (Hot Water Music, Texas Is The Reason) at Salad Days studio, the bolder production value has given Turnstile a bigger sound. McTernan has captured the intensity of the bands incendiary live show by making the unique groove that the band crafted across 2011’s ‘Pressure To Succeed’ and the following EP ‘Step 2 Rhythm’ thicker. Opening track ‘Gravity’ sounds as colourful as the artwork of the album, with vocalist Brendan Yates switching between old school hardcore yelps and melodic choruses. There are elements of the front mans day job as part of the rhythm section for heavyweights Trapped Under Ice, where tracks ‘Drop’ and ‘Fazed Out’ pay homage to blistering 90’s hardcore, and even include a shredding solo in the latter.
What is great about ‘Nonstop Feeling’ is the element of surprise that Turnstile like to throw in now and then. ‘Can’t Deny It’ has blended the groove of Cold World with an Anthony Kiedis style fast-paced vocal delivery, into the sing-a-along chorus. They even embrace a full on pop-rock influence on the stunning ‘Blue By You’, which makes you forget you are listening to hardcore record for a minute and a half. The melodic reprieve is all but brief however as the slow burning ‘Out Of Rage’ builds into a heavy slab of breakdowns, leading into the NYHC crunch of ‘Bring It Back’ and the Inside Out worshipping ‘Addicted’. The album ends on the furious ‘Stress’, which is probably the heaviest moment on the record, combined with a groove that wouldn’t have been out of place on a mid 2000’s era Lockin’ Out Records release.
Upon listening to ‘Nonstop Feeling’ it raises a few questions: Are Turnstile just another hype band? Absolutely not, are Turnstile going to be one of the biggest hardcore bands on the planet? Quite possibly, and are Turnstile the epitome of a hardcore band? Definitely. Opinion will surely be divided on this album, but it is the sound of a band that have made the record that they wanted to make regardless of what anyone would think of them. The genre purists will probably hate it, the new kids will probably adore it, but whatever the reaction will be, Turnstile have created something special on ‘Nonstop Feeling’ that embodies everything that a hardcore record should be.
GLEN BUSHELL