Turnover – “Peripheral Vision” Review
Posted: by Sean Gonzalez
STREAM THE ALBUM WHILE YOU READ!
I am surprised at how many projects Will Yip takes on every year. It seems like a six degress of Kevin Bacon but for music. He is known for helping defile mosh pits by producing Blacklisted, establishing emotional trauma with La Dispute and even giving The Wonder Years their birth right with The Upsides. This year we have seen him dive into some different projects, and Turnover’s new album Peripheral Vision is one of those different albums he can use to claim to fame.
Lead single ‘Cutting My Fingers Off’ is the opener of the album, establishing a setting and painting a picture of lush, warm guitar tones and spacey vocals aligned with grooves from the rhythm section. Turnover never shy away from their strengths, allowing their ability to create dynamics shine. During the middle of the opening track a vicious snare section is unleashed as the band explodes their sound with louder tones and more layers or delays and a bit harsher vocals.
Peripheral Vision is a mix of emo, shoe-gaze and pop punk. ‘Hello Euphoria’ is a perfect light to shed on all of these influences. The guitars are mesmerizing with the way the lead guitar is always moving about, spinning off leads and arpeggios above the standard chord progression. The vocals drone on in a monotonous tone, adding to the whole trance. The lyrics are easy to comprehend and sing along with, bleeding comfort and memorability into ears of every listener. Austin Getz’s produces melodies with his voice and weaves every word perfectly into the mix of wonder and nostalgia that the music encompasses. He describes it perfectly well on ‘Dizzy on the Comedown,’ describing, “sing along to a song that I know, it goes a ba ba ba sing it over and over let it hypnotize you.” A clever line to sing because I was hypnotized already.
One thing to make note of across the majority of songs on this album are the way they start. Eight out of the eleven tracks begin with a fade in or volume swells. It is not really a big deal but it can be a little confusing when playing the album on shuffle or in a variety of playlists because you won’t recognize the song right away. ‘Take My Head’ is one of these tracks that sticks out, unleashing more punk vibes, featuring a very prominent bass line and fuzz driven guitars. The change that occurs in the middle of the song is haunting and unexpected. ‘I Would Hate You If I Could’ is a sentimental song that pulls emotions into the ambient atmosphere.
With Peripheral Vision, Turnover have shown their growth as a band. Catchy melodies and lyrics that are relatable and get ingrained in your head are the highlights of this nostalgia driven LP.
