On paper I probably shouldn’t like Never Enough, the fourth studio album from punk/hardcore/emo/pop mashup Turnstile; I didn’t care for their lauded 2021 album Glow On, and the youthful, angsty lyrical conceits feel a thousand miles away from where I’m at both emotionally and mentally. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and right now that’s immaculate production, hooks that reach for miles, and a smooth punk delivery that washes over you and leaves without damage, to be experienced fresh the next time you hit play. I can’t say Never Enough lingers emotionally, but the feeling when it’s on is a joyous one.

Being a band I never followed, I can only guess that anticipation was high as to what the band would do after Glow On. I remember seeing them perform on The Tonight Show and feeling okay that ostensibly heavy music was being promoted but that was it. Since then founding guitarist Brady Ebert left the band under less than ideal circumstances, so the question of what Never Enough would sound like was already a topic for online arguing. Turns out the band doubled down on the gloss and sheen, tightening up the hardcore moments until they hit like machine gun fire. One of my favorite tracks on the album, “Dull” shows how finely tuned a breakdown riff can work juxtaposed against more pop-inflected moments (or seconds, I should say – most of these songs are very short).

When these little nuances creep in, the band is on fire – another instance is the flourish of percussion that adorns the straight ahead punk of “Sunshower” before that explodes into a shimmering cloud of synths and pads. When the songs are partnered together you can see the entirety of the tapestry Turnstile are shooting for: the video for “Seein’ Stars” allows the Police vibes to ring out just enough then beautifully smash into the hardcore of “Birds”:

I’d be lying if I didn’t say my favorite moments were the heavier pieces; songs like the above as well as “Sole” and the crazy horn-infused punk of “Dreaming”. But the key piece of Never Enough is that the lighter, pop sheen never detract from the heavier fare, and that pristine production (courtesy of lead vocalist/keyboardist Brendan Yates along with Will Yip and A.G. Cook) gels everything together in a way other bands trying their hand at this sort of thing fail at on the regular.

I’m tentatively tagging this as a “Best of 2025” album right now, we’ll see if its charms continue to hold me over the next six months. As it stands right now, I’m glad its in my possession (it was the June selection for Gimme Metal’s Vinyl Club) and it’s helping through the recent pain of events.