Album Review: Turnover - 'Self-Titled'

America's pop punk scene is populating and growing faster than any other country in the world. Hundreds of bands are forming and tackling the same style but only some seem to catch my attention, and Virginia’s Turnover are one of the few. Formed in early 2009, Turnover play their own breed of fast punk mixed with emotional vocals and catchy guitar hooks which at some times might not seem entirely original, but is far better than most recent bands having a stab at the style.

Turnover's self-titled EP offers four new songs and a re-recorded version of 'Sleepless Nights' taken from the 2009 demo. The emotionally powerful 'Sasha' opens the EP, which immediately shows improvement and maturity in the bands song writing. Like a large quantity of pop punk acts, girls, love and heartbreak seem to be a safe common lyrical subject to fall upon, as cliché as it sounds the emotion still rings throughout second track 'Solitude', providing some of the most honest lyrics on the release. 'Time' in my opinion is the strongest point of the EP, the pounding drums which follow the intricate guitar work and infectious chorus complete this song overall, proving that they really are something to look out for.

The re-recorded and re-written version of 'Sleepless Nights' blows the demo version out of the water, usually when a band takes this approach I find it's just placed there as something to take up time but in this best case scenario it was well worth it. 'Sleepless Nights' was the first song Turnover wrote which caught my eye and for me seeing this on the EP was a treat. Closing the EP is the melodic yet energetic track ‘Waiting' which sees the band turn down the tempo allowing the vocals to stand out with you hanging onto every word. 'Waiting' shows that the band can vary from the fast paced punk that is used thoroughly throughout their songs and supply a versatile range, which still seems to attract.

With the amount of anticipated releases coming out of the pop punk/emo genre this year, there's definitely a hard act to follow. If you dig deep enough you will find Virginia’s, Turnover who can now happily contend amongst these great releases. Although Turnover don't offer anything listeners haven't heard before, Turnover are still a strong straight to the point honest punk band and I can only expect greater and bigger things to become of this band.

1. Sasha
2. Solitude
3. Time
4. Sleepless Nights
5. Waiting