Nonstop Feeling(s): How Turnstile are making hardcore fun again

Around 2015 or so when the band released their debut full-length Nonstop Feeling, most tastemaker publications simply weren’t paying attention to Turnstile. While the band was indeed an underground favorite at that point with a plethora of momentum on their side, it wasn’t until a few years ago when the band released their sophomore album that the industry bigwigs really started paying attention. By that time, the band’s fun and novel approach to hardcore – namely, integrating some truly diverse influences into a genre not known for mainstream acceptance – had won Turnstile a massively growing fanbase. Now, they’re an act that routinely gets attention from Rolling Stone and SPIN Magazine, just to name a few. Oh, and their new album Glow On? That made a huge impact on the Billboard charts this year.

And don’t let anyone tell you that success isn’t earned, too. For years, the band was slugging it out playing tiny venues that you could likely see your favorite local hardcore band in. Interestingly, despite their recent success, Turnstile still feels right at home in venues like that.

What’s really interesting about Turnstile is that, especially for a hardcore band, their influences are all over the place. At their core, they have the energy of hardcore, but even on their earliest material, there were alt-rock influences with poppy tendencies (“Blue By You”) and shoegaze influences too. Now they collaborate with Blood Orange and effortlessly integrate R&B influences in ways that most bands in the scene simply couldn’t begin to put together – all while keeping their obvious Snapcase and ’90’s melodic hardcore influences at the forefront.

Of course, the band has never forgotten where they came from. Even on their newest record Glow On, it’s not like they’re a completely different band. If anything, the songs are more fully fleshed out instead of breezing by, though both styles certainly have their merits.

Turnstile aren’t “new”, despite what some tastemakers will tell you. However, they are part of a new breed of hardcore bands that genuinely don’t care what you think about throwing a bunch of influences into a blender – and in Turnstile’s case, they all seem to stick pretty well. Even people who aren’t into the genre are discovering Turnstile – how can you not appreciate a band that’s making hardcore fun again?