NEVER ENOUGH

Turnstile

Back in 2021, Turnstile released GLOW ON, an album that fused hardcore punk with dreamy new-wave and presented it in this 80s thrash metal production style. The album opened many doors for the Baltimore band with regular festival appearances, an opening slot for blink-182 on the North American leg of their world tour, and even a couple Grammy nominations. Given the success of GLOW ON, one could expect the band to reiterate on that winning formula, and with NEVER ENOUGH, that's exactly what the band does. Turnstile delivers another helping of mean riffs, soaring vocals, new-wave grooves with shimmering guitars, and new-age ambient detours. While I'm sure huge fans of their previous record will probably be satisfied with the new material, those who were hoping to see the band take their sound one step further may be a tad disappointed.

NEVER ENOUGH unfortunately falls into a couple pitfalls. The first being that it can feel terribly derivative at times. The opener mirrors a lot of qualities from GLOW ON's opener: like the dreamy intro, the slower tempo, and the drum beat. DREAMING recycles the same latin groove that can be found on DON'T PLAY, and the same can be said for the back half of LOOK OUT FOR ME which extends the electro house ideas at the end of T.L.C. into a three minute outro. Turnstile's approach to guitar riffs are also heavily rooted in power chord progressions, and while I'm sure the keys are different or have slight rhythmic variations, you can't help but feel like you've heard them all before. On top of feeling like a rehash of old ideas, NEVER ENOUGH is also really lacking in intensity or a sense of urgency. I think this is most apparent in Yates' vocal performances as it feels like he rarely taps into that biting hardcore inflection, even when the music calls for it. The pacing of these tracks also feels overwhelmingly sluggish with SUNSHOWERS and BIRDS being the only two tracks played in punk's standard double time.

The last harsh critique I can levy at the album is that a lot of the material feels underdeveloped in terms of both songwriting and production. LIGHT DESIGN, SEEIN' STARS, and TIME IS HAPPENING do not deviate at all once the main groove or the harmonic content has been established. If you lump DULL into the bunch as well, the song structures aren't all that exciting either; often just cycling through verses and choruses. Maybe a guitar solo is thrown in as well. Some of these songs, which I remind you are not fast songs, wrap up in around two minutes. I get the sense that the band has either exhausted their ideas or didn't put as much effort into expanding them into more interesting songs. On the production end, the album doesn't feel as diverse in sound as GLOW ON, or when it does, it sounds tacked on in an obvious way. For example, the majestic trumpets on DREAMING sound a little trite, and I would also like to hear SUNSHOWER (the first truly kick-ass track we encounter on the record) without the two minute new-age flute piece. It is so disconnected from where the track originally started, that it would make more sense if it was its own interlude.

Lastly, when I'm talking about diversity in sound, I'm also including the vocals. As much as I think Yates' boyish croon is pleasant, I do find him to be a little monotonous on this record. Bassist Franz Lyons had two fantastic vocal moments on GLOW ON, and yet, he's nowhere to be found here. Paramore's Hayley Williams even has a guest spot on SEEIN' STARS, but you wouldn't know it unless you were looking for some ghostly vocal riffs that briefly appear towards the end of the track. In my opinion, NEVER ENOUGH doesn't really reflect a particularly creative time for the band. This could be a result of personnel changes (guitarist Brady Ebert would exit the band in 2022), but I think it might have more to do with the band choosing to self-produce this time around. I think a band that comes from a relatively minimal tradition such as hardcore could've used a producer's guiding hand to continue helping them bridge to that more mainstream pop sound.

While I believe the album to be generally unremarkable, by no means is it offensively bad. In fact, there are a quite a few moments that I genuinely enjoyed. SUNSHOWER and BIRDS find Turnstile in their wheelhouse; both intensely exhilarating with Yates performing at typical hardcore standards. Both songs do have their own distinct character though. SUNSHOWERS's more melodic chord progression and the tension breaking clean vocals give this song a poppier, skate-punk flare, while BIRDS opens with an experimental bass drone with percussive accents before launching into a raging assault. Similar to T.L.C., it transitions into a slower breakdown section, except the riff and the groove this time go exponentially harder. In terms of communicating the band's mission statement, I think this is Turnstile's strongest track. The band continues to reference T.L.C. on LOOK OUT FOR ME; specifically the electro house outro. The watery synth pads, a single guitar note that acts like a beacon, Yates' soaring vocals; all of this coalesces into a blissful and heavenly moment. I was initially disappointed by the muted pulse of kick drums that was copied directly from T.L.C., but after hearing it re-enter in high definition with more percussive elements filling out the groove, I acknowledge it was a brilliant Chess move. The last two examples are perhaps the only times in which the band improved on the past.

For as fleeting and underdeveloped as they are, I also enjoyed LIGHT DESIGN and TIME IS HAPPENING to an extent. The former has this warm, yet melancholy vibe that I found rather inviting and the timbre of the synth bassline was also really cool. TIME IS HAPPENING feels like the most anthemic cut with its familiar melodies and driving drum beat. The band even employs one of the oldest pop tropes by having the guitar solo mimic Yates' vocal melody, although with a couple whammy bar flourishes. Aside from these specific moments, I can commend the band for having sounds and performances that are on par with their previous effort. In an effort to frame it in a more positive light, I could even say its upbeat, yet passive nature would make it a good candidate to throw on in the car or score your work day. However, there's no shortage of background music that can serve that purpose, and besides, I think Turnstile set their sights on something more of substance. To that end, I think they missed the mark.