Turnover – Altogether

Over this dwindling decade, emo has taken a strange turn. At the start of the decade, terms like 'third-wave' and 'revival' were being associated to the oft-misjudged genre, because it was in its healthiest position in ten years as the next generation of passionate fans breathed new life into the scene. In the mid-80s and late-90s we witnessed the sub-genre disappear as quickly as it came, and while that was true again on this occasion, what we learned this time is that the bands have a longer shelf life if they mutate into other 'more mature' genres.

Title Fight led the genre's newfound obsession with shoegaze which even legends such as American Football recently succumbed to (successfully, granted), but Turnover are probably the biggest culprits of this. The Virginia band – who anchored the East Coast's fruitful scene in the first half of the decade with their debut Magnolia – have made the biggest switch over their prevailing albums leading to fourth record Altogether, which brings them to soft-jazz/alt-rock territory. 

While Altogether is a pleasantly enough constructed record, it suffers a similar problem to Nothing's Dancing On the Blacktop from last year – it's just not particularly enthralling for older fans. However, taken out of the context of the band's emo heritage and instead as a follow-up to the band's surprise hit Good Nature, the trio have created more of the same songwriting gems they've become known for.

Listen to: Much After Feeling, Plant Sugar, Number On the Gate