Album Review: Turnover - 'Peripheral Vision'

18 May 2015 | 10:43 am | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

An album that sounds like it's frowning.

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Progress is a double-edged sword; you’re always going to cop criticism no matter how far forward you’re moving. Turnover’s latest offering ‘Peripheral Vision’ is progress, one step at a time, in action. Like scene buddies Title Fight, they’ve delved into a new world, but, and we hate to make comparisons, they’ve done it better. Somehow they’ve managed to advance without sounding alienating, and for that, at the very least, they should be commended.

What they should also be commended on is their ability to retain the emotive catharsis that distinguished them from their contemporaries on past LP ‘Magnolia’. While the aforementioned did so through the vehicle of angsty pop punk, ‘Peripheral Vision’ functions chiefly by constructing a disconcerting atmosphere that resembles a gentle storm. Take ‘Cutting My Fingers Off’, for example, which eerily introduces the record with a goosebumpy softness before it kicks it up a notch (and by a notch, we mean a weak nudge).

‘New Scream’ is pursuant proof that a lack of punch in its delivery doesn’t take away the feelings-factor in these songs. They have a chilling softness, which is interestingly coupled deceptively with happier beats to mask the sadness within them. There’s an Adventures-esque dream pop quality to the bittersweet notes that make up the tracks, but it’s definitely not unwelcome.

That’s not to say there aren’t any purely smile-inducing songs. ‘Humming’ is probably its sweetest offering, which you’ll only notice if you stop and pay attention while the rest of the LP is catching you off guard. ‘Like Slow Disappearing’ is also one to take notice of, holding slightly more weight than other songs, while ‘Take My Head’ has a catchy chorus that you’ll pick up on straight away.

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Intrapersonal’, the record closer but also standout, delves deeper than the LP’s excess songs, fluctuating, but not dramatically, and remaining consistently unbalanced. It’s intriguing, colouring the album’s marriage of happy and sad with significant clarity.

Turnover have crafted a record that's soft and spiky, hot and cold, velvet and studs. It's not going to be for everyone, particularly as it's more experimental than anything they've done before, but it's not a bad album by any standards. It might not be what you're expecting, but it's what you've got, and if its gentle tear-fuelled tunes don't strike a chord with you, god knows what will.

1. Cutting My Fingers Off

2. New Scream

3. Humming

4. Hello Euphoria

5. Dizzy on the Comedown

6. Diazepam

7. Like Slow Disappearing

8. Take My Head

9. Threshold

10. I Would Hate You If I Could

11. Intrapersonal