We are living in the age of the return of the big rock album, and TURNSTILE are its epicenter. You could argue that the Baltimore crew is responsible for shaking the status quo of the scene to its core — its hardcore, for that matter — upon releasing their genre-transcendent third full-length effort, GLOW ON, in 2022, which managed to nab them everything from all of the critical accolades, a Grammy nom, a huge opportunity to show they could own bigger stages while opening for a reunited blink-182, a Taco Bell commercial, and of course, the divisive ire of the r/hardcore community. Suddenly, the word “adjacent” became the norm in how we began to describe what we were hearing across the scene, and the copy cats came out in droves to the point of over-saturation.

Where does that leave TURNSTILE in 2025? NEVER ENOUGH answers that resoundingly by owning up to their departure as a hardcore band properly in style (but not necessarily spirit) and instead, having the audacity to become the makers of this year’s best alternative rock album, period. It’s not like we’ve never heard this move before — AFI, CEREMONY, Fucked Up, and Trash Talk are all great examples of cult favs from the scene who all eventually crossed the line by aligning with major labels and huge indie labels in the pursuit of using hardcore as their foundation, but no longer at the forefront of their creative ambition.

As a bigger, bolder extension of GLOW ON‘s non-hardcore sonic eccentricities, NEVER ENOUGH goes all in with their outsider elements of embracing meditative electronic breakbeats and ambient energy currents attached to nearly every climax (“NEVER ENOUGH”, “LOOK OUT FOR ME”) and interlude (“CEILING”.) There’s horn sections fit to the bull victorious in a bullfight (“DREAMING”) and new age-y flutes (“SUNSHOWER”), all the while making damn sure that they’re still throwing down big, thick riffed-up breakdowns as Daniel Fang is a technical beast behind the kit every which way between every leap (“DULL”, “BIRDS”) to send the pit home happy. That super chilled out “UNDERWATER BOI” who surfaced on GLOW ON through prism-rippling indie-pop multiplies on “I CARE”, blinds heavygaze static with a melodic luster of tears throughout “LIGHT DESIGN”, and the late era Turnover and Paramore-inspired post-punk shimmer of “SEEIN STARS”. At times, it can feel like they’re trying to cover too much ground in their explorations, but when the title of the album is what it is, you can’t be surprised to hear they’re pushing the limits as far as they can.

Brendan Yates is definitely feeling the pressure building even if his anthems have a swooning jubilee effect, as he and the band sound like they’re either soaring close to the sun or trying to slow down time and just watch the waves crash. Place your ear closer beyond the pop and burst, and you’ll hear that nearly every word shouted is Yates at war with the subconscious to find grounding against their fast ascent. Luckily, “BIRDS” has a lesson in flying at it together. On the album’s dissolving closer, “MAGIC MAN, he finally realizes much of what happens from here on out is out of his hands anyway. “Following the signs so you make it in time for the show / Wandering the world / But the world’s got a plan of its own,” he sings. Maybe that’s his way of accepting the burden that goes along with being fated to become the biggest hardcore band on the planet, except that TURNSTILE are no longer the biggest hardcore band on the planet. They’re simply one of the biggest bands on the planet who just so happened to come up from the hardcore ranks, but now sound like they’re in a category all their own.

Highlights: “LIGHT DESIGN”, “DULL”, “LOOK OUT FOR ME”,

TURNSTILE’s NEVER ENOUGH will be released June 6th on Roadrunner Records.

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