Review

Four years is a lifetime in hardcore punk. Long enough for scenes to shift, for bandwagons to come and go, for the zeitgeist to move on entirely. Yet here are Turnstile, Baltimore's most celebrated export since The Wire, proving that sometimes the best response to expectation is to transcend it entirely. NEVER ENOUGH, the quartet's fourth full-length and first since the genre-bending triumph of Glow On, arrives with the weight of considerable anticipation. That 2021 effort saw Brendan Yates and company stretch hardcore's parameters beyond recognition, flirting with R&B grooves and dream-pop textures whilst maintaining the visceral punch that made them darlings of the underground. The question lingered: was it lightning in a bottle, or had they genuinely cracked the code? The answer, thankfully, is the latter. Produced by Yates himself and recorded between Los Angeles and their native Baltimore, NEVER ENOUGH feels both more focused and more adventurous than its predecessor. The opening title track sets the tone immediately – a two-minute burst of melodic aggression that recalls early Fugazi filtered through a decidedly modern lens. It's hardcore, certainly, but hardcore that's absorbed everything from go-go to psychedelia without losing its essential DNA. What strikes most about these fourteen tracks is their sense of purpose. Where Glow On occasionally felt like a band throwing ideas at the wall to see what stuck, there's an assured confidence here that suggests genuine artistic growth. "Look Out For Me" builds from a hypnotic bass line into something approaching anthem territory, whilst the double-header of "Seein' Stars" and "Birds" showcases their knack for memorable hooks without sacrificing intensity. The production deserves particular praise. Yates has crafted a sound that's both immediate and spacious, allowing the band's trademark rhythmic complexity to breathe whilst maintaining the urgency that hardcore demands. Franz Lyons' guitar work cuts through the mix with surgical precision, whilst Pat McCrory's drumming provides the kind of propulsive backbone that makes even the quieter moments feel charged with potential energy. If there's a criticism to be made, it's that Turnstile's reluctance to engage with weighty subject matter can occasionally make their music feel somewhat hollow, albeit thrillingly so. This is hardcore punk for the post-everything generation – music that's more concerned with how it makes you move than what it makes you think. Yet perhaps that's precisely the point. In an era of endless discourse and manufactured outrage, there's something genuinely radical about music that simply demands you surrender to its physical force. The band's upcoming UK dates, including appearances at Primavera Sound and Outbreak Festival, promise to showcase these songs in their natural habitat. Turnstile have always been a live proposition first and foremost, and one suspects that NEVER ENOUGH will truly come alive in the sweat-soaked confines of packed venues across Britain. This isn't just hardcore punk; it's hardcore punk reimagined for a generation that grew up with genre boundaries already obliterated. Turnstile continue to lead from the front, proving that evolution and aggression aren't mutually exclusive. NEVER ENOUGH indeed – we could do with more of this.

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