Never Enough: Turnstile’s Toothless “Hardcore”

I’ve said it many times: punk is an attitude, not a sound. And hardcore isn’t about volume — it’s about energy. It’s been decades since Fugazi stopped playing. Their last album, The Argument, came out in 2001. A year later, my mother died. Time really flies. Since then, the members of Fugazi went their separate ways, focusing on individual projects. The band was born from ex-members of hardcore punk groups, mainly from the Washington, D.C. area.

Many of us still believe that Fugazi had a mission: to take hardcore punk to another level. They came from the school of bands like Wire and Bad Brains, but what they did was something else entirely. People used to say Fugazi sounded like a mix between The Stooges and reggae. And somehow, they pulled it off. They influenced wildly different bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam. That’s no small feat. I’d say without hesitation that Fugazi, along with Bad Religion, were the bands that made hardcore punk smarter, more ambitious, more evolved. It was all about the attitude.

So when someone tells me Turnstile is a hardcore punk band, I can’t help but think that’s insane. In the music of this Baltimore-based band, you hear echoes of The Flaming Lips, The Cranberries, Bad Religion, At The Drive-In, Arctic Monkeys, Jane’s Addiction, Rage Against the Machine, even AFI. There’s little to no trace of Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Black Flag or the Cro-Mags. Turnstile reminds me more of Deftones and their obsession with The Smiths and The Cure. In their universe, anything goes — and no label seems to fit. “Never Enough,” the first track from their latest album — also titled Never Enough — kicks off with notes reminiscent of the Flaming Lips, then launches into massive guitars that directly recall The Cranberries’ Zombie. That sound everyone throws into the “alternative” bin — which is exactly why I despise that label.

Sure, “Sole” starts off furious, but the guitars sound too tame. It’s high-intensity rock that dissolves into a polished version of “alternative punk,” in the vein of AFI with maybe a hint of Bad Religion. The punk roots are there, but they sound too far off. Whether it’s punk or not doesn’t even matter to me anymore. What really bothers me is how familiar Turnstile sounds — like a collage of things we’ve already heard. Too comfortable, too little attitude. Derivative, unoriginal. In “I Care,” the copying of The Cure, The Smiths, and The Police is so blatant that even the vocals sound like Sting. “Dreaming” is another example: they throw in Middle Eastern elements that feel less innovative and more cartoonish.

“Light Design” brings back those guitars filtered through a Deftones-like digital haze. And look, I like Deftones — but a faded imitation of Deftones is something else. On “Dull,” the band sadly plays around with Helmet-style elements without much skill. “Sunshower” is, finally, a track that could be defined as hardcore punk, clearly inspired by Bad Religion once again. And yes, they do it well. But within the context of the album, it feels forced — like they included it just to tick a box. “Look Out for Me” stands out to me, but only because it briefly reminds me of the Flaming Lips and then of Rage Against the Machine. This whole jumble of “alternative” sounds is nothing but nostalgia packaged for a generation whose musical past begins — and ends — in the 2000s.

No, Turnstile isn’t hardcore anymore. If they ever were, that’s long gone. And the saddest part is, they’re not legitimate heirs to post-punk or new wave either. They didn’t grow up with The Cure, or The Smiths, or The Police. Their thing is more about listening to a lot of AFI, Deftones, The Killers, or Arctic Monkeys… and from there, working their way backwards, discovering older music drop by drop. The hardcore in tracks like “Birds” is nothing more than a wink — a shallow gesture. When figures like Rob Halford or James Hetfield say they like Turnstile, it just sounds like a desperate attempt to stay relevant with younger audiences. Charli XCX being a fan, on the other hand, only confirms what I already thought: say what you will, Never Enough may be a lot of things — but it’s not hardcore. It’s music for the “alternative summer.”

And if this is what people today consider an evolution of Fugazi’s legacy, then it’s not a path I’m excited about. Not even if they throw in Black Sabbath-style guitars at the end of “Slowdive.” Turnstile sounds like a teenager jumping from song to song, genre to genre, band to band on Spotify. Music made for people who can only pay attention for a few seconds.