Album Review: Turnstile - Time & Space

A few weeks ago whilst hunting out new alternative music I came across an article on NPR’s website with an early stream of Turnstile’s new album Time & Space. The article talked of a hardcore band taking things in a new direction so I was intrigued. “Hardcore?”, I thought “I’m not really into that, the vocals are usually too relentless…it all gives me a bit of a headache”. Despite my hesitations, I decided to give it a try, I was won over once before by Fucked Up’s album David Comes To Life after all (holy shit, that album was released seven years ago?). Little did I know Time & Space would go on to be my favourite album of the year so far.

Album opener Real Thing is a perfect example of things to come, it’s less than two minutes long, features a lot of shouting, pounding drums, a stampeding, catchy as hell riff, surprisingly sing along lyrics, infectious musical flourishes (like short bass and guitar solo’s - we’re talking a few seconds long) and a weird instrumental interlude (what can only be described as elevator music) in the last few seconds. After hearing this song I was instantly hooked and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the shouted vocals.

Big Smile opens with a pure burst of energy (lightning fast guitars, ear shattering drums and Mr Shouty vocals) lasting about 30 seconds which, with the song being only a minute and a half you might expect it just to repeat a few times until it finishes. This is the first real surprise on Time & Space. After its initial 30 seconds the song completely changes tact, bringing in an almost surf rock riff before bursting into flames and galloping towards its ultimate conclusion. We’re also treated to a short blast of more melodic vocals and a huge cacophonous ending.

The next track, Generator, at 3 minutes and 15 seconds is one of the longest tracks on the album. It does all of the things Real Thing and Big Smile did before it and then some. We get the best riff so far which chugs along for most of its first minute before a pace and direction change bring in those awesome shouted vocals alongside some weird backing vocal shouts of “uh huh” which are a joy to sing along to. I love this song but it’s the last minute or so I could listen to forever. We get a couple more changes of pace and direction with an unbelievably catchy “Generator by my side, push me through the darkest times, you know I try, you know I try” vocal punctuated by stomp clap percussion and an awesome guitar solo. All this in a song only 3 minutes long?

After the pure unadulterated pleasure that was Generator we get the album’s shortest song (if you can call it that) in Bomb. It’s more of an elevator music interlude in the vein of the end of Real Thing but it has some delightfully weird vocals: “out from the clouds (yeah), you dropped the bomb on me (love)”.

Bomb leads directly into I Don’t Wanna Be Blind’s measured bass intro and melodic vocals, eventually bursting into those shouted vocals and chugging riffs. I can’t get enough of how varied these songs are. As soon as we get used to a riff it’s thrown out before it overstays its welcome and changes in favour of something completely new and different.

It’s at this point I take a moment. Describing Turnstile as just a hardcore band is a huge injustice. Yes there are hardcore elements but there are also elements of hard rock, metal, grunge, punk, prog and emo all thrown into a huge alternative (avant-garde even?) melting pot.

I don’t have much too much time to reflect though as High Pressure batters me in the face whilst throwing in some stabbing keyboard and slick guitar riffs. This is a really punchy, almost disorientating (I get the feeling of spinning in circles) track and a true delight to listen to. Even after all that the riff that dominates the final minute of this track is completely different and fucking brilliant. All these songs have moments where they completely change but there’s never a sense of “oh it’s gonna switch it up here”. Those changes in pace and style occur naturally in a way that never gets boring.

(Lost Another) Piece of My World has a really thrashy intro which slows down after about 30 seconds with the shouted vocals kicking in then slows down again before finding its groove with a chunky, steamrolling riff which chugs along to the songs conclusion.

The opening of Can’t Get Away is another interlude but this time there’s no elevator music. It’s more of an intro befitting an epic over-driven, reverb-laden stadium rock song and again is completely unexpected but everything bends, distorts and bursts into another one of those huge riffs. At this point I can’t help but wonder “how can these riffs keep getting better and better?”. We also get one of my favourite sing-along (read shout-along) sections “can’t get away, from my-self, can’t get away, from my-self”. We also get a pretty epic thrash-style guitar solo thrown in for good measure.

Moon doesn’t do much different from it’s predecessors other than it’s the first track to feature only singing throughout. No shouting whatsoever. Again this is a refreshing change, showing a band who aren’t afraid to change a winning formula at the drop of a hat.

If anyone was lamenting the shouted vocals missing from Moon then their disappointment needn’t last long. Come Back for More / H.O.Y. brings them back in style alongside a storming tempo. Re-listening to this track I couldn’t help but notice how the screaming / shouting sounds a lot like the “can’t stand it, I think you planned it” opening from The Beastie Boy’s Sabotage. I wonder if this is why I find these vocals so irresistible?

You can hear influences from all sorts of bands and genres all over this album and I get a real hit of Nirvana’s heavier side from Right to Be ( I’m thinking the likes of Breed, Territorial Pissings, Tourette's, Aneurysm - you get the idea). The riffage here is just as contagious as anything that has come before it but I’d argue the opening riff is one of the most memorable.

The penultimate track is Disco which is another interlude. Kind of a mix of the elevator music found at the end of Right Thing and Bomb but without those weird vocals. Not much to be said other than it breaks things up before the final track.

Title track and album closer Time + Space is short and sweet with some really satisfying “oohs” and “aahs” thrown in and ends on a nice chunky breakdown. What I find interesting about Time + Space as a final track is that the band don’t feel the need to drag it out and make it some epic finale.

If you haven’t listened to the album yet and have read through this review, you might be surprised to hear that the album is only 25 mins long. You might now be thinking that I’m going to flag up this stunted run-time as a negative when considering my experience of the album. Well, in fact you’d be wrong. Whilst the album is very short I find that, due to the variation found throughout, it feels much longer. I also find that once it’s over I tend to listen to it again immediately such is the quality of the music on offer here.

Ultimately, I can do nothing other than recommend this album to anyone who likes alternative music. It may be too heavy for some, the vocals may be too shouty for others but for those who can get past that and give Turnstile a chance, they’re in for a real treat. Like I said at the beginning this is my favourite album of the year so far and I just can’t stop listening to it.

Time & Space is available now on all popular streaming services.

As always, if you like what you hear, support the band and buy the album and if the opportunity arises, go and see them live. Let me know your thoughts on the album in the comments below or on my Facebook and Instagram. Also if you hear any mutterings of a UK tour please let me know as I cannot wait to experience these songs live.