Turnstile

Nonstop Feeling

Written by: PP on 21/01/2015 00:05:38

If there's one genre where there's definitely space for innovation and new ideas, it's hardcore. For every excellent release by Terror and Lionheart there's a seemingly infinite number of soundalike bands that offer absolutely nothing outside of beatdowns and two-step rhythms you've heard a million times before. Lately, we've seen fresh ideas infiltrate the previously only testosterone-driven environment, with bands like Cruel Hand showcasing how to introduce pure fun into the genre, and on the other extreme, bands like Verse demonstrating just how far you can go with passing what is practically poetry as lyricism on a hardcore album. At the same time, Turnstile have been cooking up their own, unique expression quietly in the underground, slowly generating a cult following for the two EPs they released in 2011 and 2013, respectively.

What made both "Pressure To Succeed" and "Step 2 Rhythm" so successful was that they dared to sound totally different from all of their peers. That same, vivid pushing the envelope approach continues triumphantly on debut album "Nonstop Feeling", which essentially merges straight up hardcore with equal parts rap, indie rock, and post-hardcore. "Love Lasso", for instance, is an ambient instrumental track near the end of the record that just a couple of years ago would've felt totally out-of-place on a hardcore album.

Opener "Gravity" starts with hip hop style record scratching and instantly catchy riffage that's about as bouncy as it gets in hardcore. The two-step rhythm and hardcore style barks that follow are pretty much as you'd expect in the genre, except already here they are delivered in a rather unusual rhythmic pattern compared to the rest of the genre. And then out of the blue they visit dreamy indie rock for brief sections of clean vocals in the midst of the expression. The added soothing dimension feels totally natural and creates a unique dynamic and flavor to the record straight away.

"Drop" then explodes with the rage of a typical hardcore punk track, before yet another guitar break leads into a bouncy rhythm, ambient backing section and ridiculously catchy vocal patterns once again, which are used very sparingly throughout the track. Most of all, the song brings to mind classic Fugazi experimentation rather than the beatdown hardcore it's supposed to represent. Later on, "Can't Deny It" recalls Title Fight style dreamy post-hardcore for extensive parts of the song, once again toying with clean vocals and non-distorted guitar for good measure. This, my friends, is how innovation in hardcore manifests itself in sonic form. It's a clever track that combines classic hardcore ideas with a breath of fresh air in the form of rap core-esque vocals, oddly tranquil clean vocals shoegaze style, and heavy doses of groove to achieve a truly invigorating sound that feels like it could revitalize a stale genre on its own.

Such examples are packed all throughout "Nonstop Feeling". "Blue By You" is another clean vocal highlight; "Bad Wave" again showcases Title Fight style instrumentation especially towards the middle of the song with heavy pedal effects applied to the guitars; and "Out Of Rage" almost sounds like a Rage Against The Machine track. Turnstile certainly aren't afraid to push what is still at its root a hardcore sound into every direction possible on the record, and for that, they must be rewarded, especially because the end result is such an impressively original and refreshing listen.

8

Download: Gravity, Can't Deny It, Blue By You
For the fans of: Verse, Title Fight, Expire, Backtrack, Cruel Hand, Fugazi
Listen: Facebook

Release date 13.01.2015
Reaper Records

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