Review: Twelve Hour Turn - The Victory of Flight

Twelve Hour Turn - The Victory of Flight (1999)

 

Hailing from Jacksonville themselves, Twelve Hour Turn is one of the most criminally under-looked post-hardcore bands to emerge from the area. Their music shrieks with such an intensity and power, it not only rivals their contemporaries from the same time period such as Unwound, On the Might of Princes or At The Drive-In, but surprisingly can surpass them in moments of natural, inherent energy that seems to never runs limited throughout the albums 25 minute run time. The sound is characterized by constantly dispensing onslaughts of harnessed anger, often murky and tenebrous. This works incredibly in their favor, delivering something that feels missing in most post-hardcore/emo bands of similar structure. However, this band like any band around the time, isn't without faults. Sometimes they become comfortable in their post-hardcore contemporaries foot steps, sharing too many similarities with that distinctive post-hardcore and screamo sound without adding much new in songs like "I Get Lively...". Because of this, there is a bit of lack in musical variety throughout that their more critically acclaimed counterparts offered sometimes wholesale. You won't really see a Fugazi-like experimentation with this band and at times the band can really sound like Unwound 2.0, however that doesn't make the band uninteresting. There are several unique sounding songs on here, many of which benefit from the aforementioned bursts of energy that feel unparalleled, but they feel grounded to the scene they incorporate at times. However when the band finds their footing and can take their steps forward, they sound very much ahead of their time in unexpected ways, coming in just a year before At The Drive-In's audacious and innovative Relationship of Command, yet sounding like they had been briefed on the album's legacy well ahead of time to incorporate some of it's best, earth-shattering elements. This is shown on songs such as "New Rock" and "A Mouth of Suitable Size" which come in with the same characteristic energy and off kilter songwriting. However, Twelve Hour Turn isn't just taking notes from the post-hardcore playbook, they are very much entrenched in their emo roots. Songs like "For Want of a Real Whole" sheds a vibe similar to what a blended and distorted Hot Water Music and I Hate Myself mash up song would sound like, the latter of which is an unsurprising comparison since they released a split with I Hate Myself a year before. It's hard to see why the band is left in the critically unrecognized ashes with how much pure vigor and vitality they show within this album. Overall, I believe this band is heavily worth checking out. They showcase some of the best Jacksonville talent the hardcore scene had to offer and the music indicates a shining of hidden light in the city's late night skyscraper beacon.

Listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSoIRQxPyuM