Turnover is one of those bands that, no matter what mood I’m in, no matter what time of year, no matter what I need from an album, I know I can always turn to them. Peripheral Vision is without a doubt a seamless work of art. It’s one of the most cohesive LPs that’s come out of this last decade, and though the band hails from Virginia Beach, Philly has a sweet claim on them for their work with Studio 4’s producer, Will Yip. Thanks to him, they have the leverage that they have, and they’ve put out all four of their major releases with the Conshohocken-based studio virtuoso.

Though they’re a powerhouse of an alt-indie-smooth vibrations kind of band, they don’t act like it. They played the TLA, an understatement of a venue for a band of their scope, and they treated the crowd as if they were back at The Barbary (I’m still in shock they ever played there).

About a month ago, the band released Altogether, a maturation of 2017’s ethereal Good Nature. As Yip has described Turnover’s discography, since he’s had such a heavy hand in it, 2015’s Peripheral Vision (my opinion of their swan song) is the discovery of their sound, Good Nature is the development of that specific sound, and Altogether is its culminating maturation. From a listener standpoint, I couldn’t agree more. Though the former is the definite outlier as far as the scope of its heaviness goes, the newer of the three releases fall into what will undoubtedly be Turnover’s calling card of a soundscape. It’s all shimmering guitar riffs and intricately glittering keys and singer Austin Getz’s easy and echoing vocals. What we lose from 2013’s grungy Magnolia, we gain in a definite bedroom mood and atmosphere.

The setlist couldn’t have been better if I’d chosen it myself. This tour is Turnover’s time to brag about Altogether. Fans have had the chance to revel in the glory of Peripheral Vision. We’re ready to explore this next chapter in their dreamy discog. They opened with - and how couldn’t they - “Still In Motion,” the opening track on Altogether. Getz was seated at the keyboard, which threw me. However, he seemed totally comfortable there, falling into the cyclical choruses, while the days go by, everything gets old. This song could loop for fifteen minutes and it wouldn’t be long enough. It seamlessly transitioned into “Much After Feeling,” another new one, and then they doubled back for “Sunshine Type” off Good Nature. The opening riff with those glimmery, call-and-response treble notes get me every time. There’s something about the harmonics - they named the song. It makes me feel warm.

I won’t let my bias show, but the notable tracks that they played off Peripheral Vision were “New Scream,” which they devoted to Yip and to Philly, “Take My Head,” “Dizzy on the Comedown,” (I could have cried), and “Humming.” If they’d added “Cutting My Fingers Off,” I’d probably have to be given a shot of epinephrine. That would have been a top-tier setlist. While these were the night’s heaviest tracks, Getz was able to tone them down just the slightest bit so they blended in with the rest of Altogether’s atmospheric theme. His voice has this natural silkiness to it that nothing felt like a jolt in the lineup, and he was able to easily transition between old and new releases.

Turnover fans are a striking group - like, incredibly (painfully) niche, but they still know how to get the fuck down. I mean, people were crowdsurfing to “Humming.” How? And also why? It was hardly the place, because this show wasn’t heavy by any means, but if the moment moves you then who am I to tell you how to enjoy the night?

The cool thing about Altogether is that I could envision it at nearly any venue - low key and atmospheric at Ortliebs, maybe, or blown up and filled out at Union Transfer. Turnover has that kind of scope and ambidexterity. Add one or two tracks off Magnolia (“Like a Whisper” or “Most of the Time” would fit) and they could play upstairs at Johnny Brenda’s.

I’m stoked that I could finally see Turnover. They’ve been on my list for a long time, and I think catching a band while they’re fresh off a new and different release is usually the best time, because you know they want to be a little braggy about the new songs, but you can also guarantee a handful of crowd pleasers. Peripheral Vision is their eternal silver lining, and Altogether is the new trophy that they’ll be polishing for quite some time.

Turnover Revels in Shimmering New "Altogether" Release With the TLA

PHILLY LIVE

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