Emerging from Baltimore’s incredibly energetic hardcore scene, TURNSTILE have always displayed a penchant for eclecticism. Last year’s album NEVER ENOUGH epitomised their magpie-like eye for glittering sonics, exploding their hardcore palette into something that could be blissfully melodic and crushingly intense all within the same song. Very much an international breakout moment, the band toast 12 months of NEVER ENOUGH with VERSIONS, a staggering broad selection of re-workings which serves to illustrate the ongoing impact of the parent record.
As a collection, VERSIONS is led by the highs: Porches re-crafts the title song into a spectral slice of after-hours introspection; Blood Orange transforms ‘LIGHT DESIGN’ into a zero…
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In 1984, members of Crass — the revolutionary anarcho-punk band and art collective from England — self-published the leaflet You’re Already Dead to hand out at their shows. In it, they touted the merits of creating pure art instead of “consumerist products,” putting in the hard work of direct action, and fighting for a world where punk isn’t derivative, escapist, or boring. “It is our job to reclaim beauty and intelligence, dignity and truth,” the band wrote. “NOW IS THE TIME TO CONSTRUCT OUR OWN REALITY.” That year, Crass were touring behind their album Yes Sir, I Will, from which they stitched one lyric onto a huge black-and-white banner. While the band thrashed around onstage, the words burned into the eyes of the audience: “There is no authority but yourself.”