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"Simply one of the best records we have ever heard". - George Cannon - WOTG Radio
CLICK ON THE WOTG LOGO ABOVE FOR THE FULL REVIEW
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"TheTurnback not only gave us twelve rock-solid original songs on this album, but they have produced a full length feature film about it which was released in March of this year! This is a most excellent Indie Music Reviewer moment with a definite 4 thumbs up and 5 stars all around". 12/21/2011 by Kayt Westerlund
CLICK ON THE INDIE MUSIC REVIEWER LOGO ABOVE FOR THE FULL REVIEW & INTERVIEW!
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"There is no filler here, and all twelve tracks are meticulously crafted to require repeated listens. Also notable is the clean production by Grammy Award winning engineer Jeff Peters (Beach Boys, Brian Setzer, Goldspot) and mastered by Joe Gastwirt (Tom Petty, Talking Heads, Pearl Jam). The album has already won many honors, so to be redundant I am proud to add this to our Top Ten List for 2011". - Powerpopaholic - 5/16/2011
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"The jacket art should be a dazzling rainbow of colors to reflect the band’s massive mastery of jangle pop styles drawing inspiration from the Byrds, Brit Pop and psychedelia. “Love Like Bombs” has a Teenage Fanclub vibe, but these guys are sharper and gleam more. Five stars." - Bruce Bodeen - Pop Geek Heaven - 10/11/2011
CLICK ON THE POP GEEK HEAVEN LOGO ABOVE TO READ THE FULL REVIEW
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CELLOPHANE SKY
Take a little bit of shoegazey '60s pop, mix it in with some up-tempo classic(ish) rock, add a good dose of originality, plus some sitar for good measure. This is the recipe for the New York indie power pop band, The Turnback. The vocal part usually has a harmony part or two going in the background constantly, which adds an interesting element to a genre that often saves the harmony for only the chorus. Their new album, "Drawn In Chalk," consists of 12 original tracks that is sure please fans of '60s and '70s pop/rock. They might even add some new fans to the genre. - The Indie Reviewer - 12/20/2011
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"ICE CREAM MAN POWER POP AND MORE ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2011 -- A debut album to accompany a wonderful, moving film with the title "Drawing In Chalk", a film that will resonate with anyone who has ever tried....and failed, it is a little bit me and a little bit you, a little bit of each and everyone one of us, it is real life, and the soundtrack album is brilliant, a perfect piece of Power Pop with tunes to get your blood pumping, your heart pounding and your feet tapping, check the album out and also check the film out.....you are not the only one that has ever failed, but you will also discover that you can achieve if you believe!" - Wayne Lundqvist Ford - Ice Cream Man Power Pop & More - 12/23/2011
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"The album, "Drawn in Chalk" is a meticulous piece of power pop with Byrds-like jangly guitars, fantastic harmonies and beautifully crafted lyrics. The 12 tracks on the album are all excellent, there isn't a filler in sight, a rare occurrence these days and very, very welcome to these ears". - Ice Cream Man Power Pop & More - album review - 11/24/2011
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Blitz - The Rock & Roll Magazine For Thinking People
DRAWN IN CHALK - The Turnback by Michael McDowell
Among the several generations of bands and solo artists that have been inspired by the groundbreaking work of the first generation garage rock pioneers, perhaps those who have persevered from the second generation of aspirants have faced the greatest number of challenges in their now more than three decade old collective quest for artistic immortality.
Those second generation aspirants were an integral part of the punk and new wave movement that rescued rock and roll from the doldrums from the mid 1970s into the early 1980s. However, while their collective enthusiasm for the work of those who preceded them was indeed admirable, in some respects, that unconditional love often circumvented their creative capabilities in that a number of the artists involved were more focused upon paying homage to their inspirations, rather than learning from that inspiration and using it to create a cohesive body of original work. Ironically, the fourth and fifth generation garage rockers that have surfaced since the turn of the century have found themselves less encumbered in that respect, having been far enough removed chronologically from the movement’s founders to maintain a healthy respect without succumbing to slavish imitation.
Often overlooked in that progression of events is the enigmatic third generation of garage rockers, whose window of opportunity came briefly in tandem with a curious turn of events that gave rise to a series of so-called grunge and shoegaze/dreamscape protagonists, whose allegiance to the genre as a whole was peripheral, at best. Not surprisingly, those of marginal affiliation reaped the greatest rewards, while those with relatively purist (if not entirely altruistic) inclinations often found themselves lost in the shuffle in short order.
It is within those narrow parameters of advancement that a New York band known as Six Mile Hill initially availed itself. Comprised of Todd Giglio (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Kenny Sherman (vocals, bass, guitar) and Barry Nagel (drums, guitar, keyboards), the band renamed itself the Turnback and persevered to the present day, where they now find themselves in the maelstrom of a controversy that stands to ultimately guarantee their legacy as catalysts for change.
The challenge in question stemmed from an observation made by the band in tandem with the opening track on this collection, Beyond Belief. In its concurrent release as part of the acclaimed 2011, three CD Various Artists collection, International Pop Overthrow, Volume 14 (Pop Geek Heaven PGH-33), the track opens with the following spoken word exchange: “Come on man, who are we kidding? Who’s gonna sign two guys in their forties? Maybe we are getting too old.”
The resultant debate has brought into the spotlight two distinct schools of thought on the issue. One is the notion of ageism within the mainstream industry, while the other (and more commonly held view amongst academics, collectors, musicians and musicologists) suggests that solidarity with convention has long not been a viable option for an artist of uncompromising aesthetics.
To their credit (and in deference to their ever growing reputation as visionaries, in seeming contrast to many of their fellow third generation alumni), the Turnback responded not only with the twelve solid originals that comprise this collection, they in turn have taken their mission statement into rarely charted territory by producing a full length feature film about it.
As a motion picture, Drawn In Chalk has been acclaimed not only for Giglio’s savvy as a first time producer (in tandem with Christopher Springer), but for its ability to resonate with disenfranchised musicians. A DVD release is imminent.
As a motion picture soundtrack, Drawn In Chalk has somewhat of a rushed quality to it. “Rushed” not in the sense of a result of any sort of lack of attention to detail, but more as the reflection of twenty-odd years of pent up enthusiasm availing itself.
Indeed, unlike many of their second and third generation garage rock colleagues, an indispensable attribute that ironically has been found in short supply within the genre. While the opening bars of Beyond Belief may at first elicit apprehension and thoughts of, “Not another band of Byrds imitators!”, the Turnback quickly lays to rest such concerns by asserting themselves with richly layered vocal harmonies and a clever call and response chorus that at one suggests both deference and vision.
In turn, the feedback in search of a mission intro to Over And Out Of My Head quickly finds its purpose in the urgency of the message, with a sublime chorus that irrevocably reaffirms lavish vocal harmonies as one of the band’s primary strengths. And if What She Said hints at some of the “pogo stick” approach to its mission statement that was common to the genre in its infancy, the Turnback more than rallies with the inventive, minor-friendly guitar work and reflective message of Someone Else’s. By the time the band finds its way to the mid-tempo, acoustic tenth track, One Day You’ll Be Rich, it is apparent that such forth telling prophecy is borne of leftover optimism, tempered with the discernment that only comes with experience.
Most assuredly, that experience has served the Turnback well in this encouraging cinematic and musical venture. For while the metaphor of chalk may initially serve to articulate any self-perceived apprehensions about the long term viability of their goals, the results herein reaffirm beyond question that the band has successfully ascended to the top of their own Six Mile Hill. From this point, there is no turning back.
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itunes.apple.com/us/album/drawn-in-chalk/id430404529
REAL SINGING REAL INSTRUMENTS REAL GOOD - 5 STARS (iTunes Review)
by kingofprops
As we wade through the morass of modern music, only to discover the excessive use and abuse of Autotune, faux teen pop/rock fluff & the alarming escalation of "artists" lifting entire sections from classic old songs and laying new and inferior vocal melodies over them - it has become apparent that the most satisfying and creative work is now being released by unsigned independent artists. The Turnback is one such artist. After seeing the indie film "Drawing With Chalk" about a year or so ago at a film festival, I've been waiting (and hoping) for the release of the soundtrack. Finally it arrives and it does not dissappoint. Do you like melody? Check. Do you like thoughtful, intelligent lyrics? Check. Do you like inventive vocal harmonies (something that nobody seems to do anymore)? Check. Well, this album has all of it. The sound is bit retro in the best sense, borrowing from the 60's (like the 12 string guitar riffing in Beyond Belief & the funky bass in Someone Else's), the 70's (the Zeppelin meets Cheap Trick groove of Love Like Bombs) and psychedelia (Cellophane Sky) - yet the band manages to give each song a fresh, modern spin so that nothing sounds shamelessly retro. Well worth the ten bucks.
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