Turnstile
Among the circles Janky Smooth rolls with, our peoples would say that Turnstile and Turnover were probably the best bands playing Coachella this year. Combining forces under the bond of having similar names, the bands teamed up for an epic El Rey show between festival weekends and within those theatre walls, I guarantee Los Angeles hardcore went more insane than all of elite Los Angeles’ Coachella kids could ever dream.
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The night was divided between soft and hard bands beginning with Candy, one of Los Angeles’ most intense and heaviest hardcore bands that are so brutal they bring to mind bands like Sepultura and Pantera beyond hardcore like Cro-Mags. Every time they play, they make a mark as a band that will go big places. Following Candy’s vulgar display of power, a chill band all the way from Portland, Oregon, Reptaliens took the stage. Introduced by a towering figure in an alien mask, the band weren’t bad but looked and sounded like every other Echo Park indie band, so as a metal/hardcore/punk kid that dabbles in Turnover, what this set meant to me was simple: cigarette break.
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With Angel Du$t receiving so much praise and hitting the road for their latest album Pretty Buff, one might forget the heights that Turnstile climbed in the hearts and minds of hardcore kids and even the mainstream. As soon as they hit that stage though, everybody remembered how huge this band is and why. Their bigness and greatness stem totally from their presence on stage. Every player has their own character and singer Brendan Yates jumps and dances in ways that are larger than life and more groovy and unique than anyone else in the genre. Their songs, though distinctly hardcore, have a certain bounce, rhythm, and hardness that they almost qualify as banger, like they’re tickling the same nerves as a good hip hop track.
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Turnover is the perfect music for lovers. Soft, candid, charming, and pure, this is what love should be, without all the stress and baggage, it’s music that takes you to your happy place. The band’s background visuals featured a car driving down the street in some pretty, pastel animated toon town. The kind of imagery that brings everyone back to childhood, teen sweethearts rolling through the grass and making out. Even though the band is relatively young, I hear in there music what I can only describe as a lasting quality. Those that fell in love listening to Turnover will keep those songs close to them for many, many years to come. After we all beat the living daylights out of each other during Turnstile’s set, we were arm in arm, singing together as one for Turnover and it was as if every scar and bruise was mended by our wave of curing sound.
Words by: Rob Shepyer
Photos by: Dillon Vaughn
