Turnstile
photo: s. bollmann · attribution ↗Formed in Baltimore in 2010 out of the city's tight-knit hardcore scene, Turnstile took the genre's speed and aggression and opened it up to pop hooks, dreamy R&B textures, and psychedelic guitar tones without losing the mosh-pit physicality. Their 2021 album Glow On and 2025 follow-up Never Enough turned them into a rare hardcore band with genuine mainstream and Grammy-stage reach, while their live show stayed rooted in DIY stage-diving chaos.
Turnstile cites Bad Brains directly as an influence, and you can hear it in the way the band treats hardcore as a launchpad rather than a cage — blistering speed that can snap into a completely different feel without warning.
listen forCue up Bad Brains' 'Pay to Cum' and then Turnstile's 'T.L.C. (Turnstile Love Connection)' — both are short, breathless bursts that never sit still, though Turnstile folds in a melodic, almost danceable lift Bad Brains only hinted at.
Turnstile lists Madball among its cited influences, and the connection lands in the chest-thump breakdown sections — the heavy, chugging, floor-punching rhythms that give even Turnstile's poppiest songs a pit-ready backbone.
listen forPlay Madball's 'Set It Off' next to Turnstile's 'Blackout' — both build around a slow, stomping breakdown groove built for crowd movement, even though Turnstile wraps it in more melody and studio polish.
Turnstile has named Sade as an influence, an unusual reference point for a hardcore band that shows up in the group's quieter, smoother interludes — hushed vocals, warm bass tone, and a sense of space that lets a song breathe between the chaos.
listen forListen to Sade's 'Smooth Operator' and then Turnstile's 'Alien Love Call' — both trade urgency for a slow-burning, sultry groove, with Turnstile's Blood Orange collaboration leaning straight into that quiet-storm feel.