Turnover drops acid at the disco on 'Myself In The Way'

If you don’t know about Turnover, you’re about to find out. Headed by a pair of brothers and always comprised of a handful of unassuming stoners from Virginia, Turnover’s sound has been through several evolutions in the last decade. No, really. Go take a listen. Their discography is a lesson in pivoting. From positively pop-punk roots, Turnover’s sound has evolved time and time again, gradually donning a slower pace with more diverse instrumentation and some brave leaps into genres hitherto unexplored. However, I would dare to say that their newest release, Myself In The Way, is their smoothest and most satisfying evolution thus far.

The album kicks right off with a synth-driven, shimmering prelude that blends seamlessly into the first song. Tears of Change arrives and so does Turnover. It’s like having your entire body dipped into warm golden liquid. The sound of this album establishes itself VERY quickly: truly psychedelic, bendy guitar notes floating over an electric, disco-influenced foundation, providing the backdrop for wistful and introspective lyrics. There’s a sense of initiation with these first two tracks, and I’ve realized after several listen-throughs that that feeling is the exact same feeling I get when I place a tab of acid under my tongue. Turnover is absolutely experiencing an initiation and an elevation with this album, but so are we. Lucky us.

The titular first single on this album actually took a minute to grow on me, if I’m being honest, but now it’s like a tumor that I never want removed.

This must be the place
The feeling is just right
How’d I let it take until now to realize?

The feeling is just right. What surprised me, upon first listen to Myself In The Way, is how Turnover takes you straight to the disco and drops you off with absolutely no warning. The strings?! The irresistible, foot-tapping beat combined with generous use of a wah-wah pedal? Pass me the mirrored tray, baby, ‘cause I am here to boogie. This is not at all what I expected from Turnover this time around, but it is a much welcomed surprise. Not to mention, we also get some downright dreamy vocals from Turnstile frontman Brendan Yates (!!!) towards the end. It’s the Turnover x Turnstile collab of my dreams, y’all. It’s here. We did it. I can’t believe it.

The psychedelic haze is thick throughout the majority of this album, and I'm not mad about it. Mountains Made of Clouds is pure vibes, complete with nature sounds. I can’t quite explain it, but there’s a quality to this song where I feel like I’ve heard it before, but not because it’s unoriginal or anything. It sounds like something I’ve already heard in a dream or on some psychedelic adventure of my own. To be honest, this track almost reminds me of the Flaming Lips in a way that I do not hate one bit.

I mean, come on. That video speaks for itself. You’re not gonna tell me that our friend, lysergic acid diethylamide, was not in the room during much of the creation of this album.

A song that brings a feeling back
Make you wanna hold it close

Mountains Made of Clouds is that song that brings a feeling back, and it’s the subtle paranoia that creeps in after a long night of drug-doing. The end of the track is like daybreak: suddenly, instrumentation is stripped down to just a guitar and some birds, leaving you feeling vulnerable and reminiscent of that morning-after feeling where everything is a tad bit too bright and the magic is gone.

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What I love about Turnover, lyrically, is that honest introspection, homesickness, and declarations of love are all consistent themes across their entire body of work, and this album is no different, though the sound may be new to listeners. In People That We Know, there’s a clear desire to be around the faces and places that are familiar, even if that just means gathering in a basement with old friends on the other side of the country. It does feel nice to be seen, by people who can see you clearly, especially when it’s an increasingly rare experience. However, even with all this wistfulness, we are still at the disco, and this song surprises you with a bass line that goes on a fucking walk, over some drums that make it impossible to sit still. Oh, and did I mention there’s a motherfucking saxophone solo? Yeah. People That We Know is a song that just feels good.

Speaking of sax solos, a quick interlude from Stone Station Reprise heralds the beginning of the end of the album in an intriguing manner. The disco may be winding down, but we are not going home yet. In Fantasy, the tambourine, wah-wah pedal, and electric organ all come together to create a feeling that’s like… church, but make it sexy. Fantasy reads like a potential single, and lyrically, it’s way more romantic than it lets on. So many Turnover songs are lowkey-highkey declarations of love and devotion and I love that for them.

On the other hand, sometimes we get bops like Queen in the River, where the vibe is very much unsure about love and devotion:

Love is a sea, I told you before
I don’t want to fall into it
Too deep with someone
Me’s all I know
Been on my own all this time

There’s nothing I love like emotionally driven, vulnerable lyrics over music that evokes the opposite emotions. This is an ass-shaker, y’all. The disco is definitely over at this point, but the party is not. We are nursing our hangovers at dawn, by the beach with cigarettes.

If you haven’t gotten the point yet, this album is funky and fun and sexy and cool and you should listen to it, especially if you revel in the discovery of talent before everyone else. I mean, technically you’re already late if you don’t already know about them, but you can get on the Turnover train right now and still claim your “I knew them before they blew up” status. Let this album be your initiation into Turnover’s body of work just as it is Turnover’s initiation into a richer, more musically mature and diversely instrumented sound. Though I cannot wait to see what evolution comes next for them, I am also looking forward to taking in the vibes of Myself In The Way for a long time—and a good time.