In terms of mainstream acceptance and commercial reach, Turnstile might already be the biggest band in the history of hardcore. Their third studio album, 2021’s Glow On, was a proper smash hit, seeing the band embraced by everyone from the US talk show circuit to Glastonbury Festival. Due to Turnstile’s gloriously upbeat, melodically sun-kissed sound, some punk purist bores would deny that they are part of hardcore at all. Of course, that’s easily disprovable bullshit. Not only have Turnstile graduated from the highly respected Baltimore underground scene that gave the world the likes of Trapped Under Ice and Angel Dust, they share obvious musical DNA with the legendary likes of Bad Brains, CIV and Shelter – all of whom similarly embraced fun, lent heavily on a positive message of unity and created some wonderfully pop hook-filled music in the process.
Arguably, though, none of those bands have pushed the envelope as far as Turnstile – not only in terms of their sonic influences, which include alternative hip hop, yacht rock, funk metal and shoegaze, but in the sheer scale and number of people they’ve reached. Get Never Enough right, and Turnstile could be sitting on a landmark record, the likes of which this genre has never seen: hardcore’s answer to Nirvana’s Nevermind. If that doesn’t happen with this fourth full-length, then forget it: it never will. Never Enough is not just a brilliant album, it’s that rarest of things: an album that feels like it’s going to move the needle and reshape both the perceptions and the ceiling of a genre.
