Turnover played a sold-out show at the Sinclair on December 11th as part of the tour for their new album 

, which was released in November. The tour was supported by Canadian indie-pop group Men I Trust and Brooklyn-based indie artist Renata Zeiguer.

The band, hailing from Virginia Beach, has changed their sound drastically with their last four albums. Starting out as a pop-punk band, Turnover has developed a dreamy, pop-rock sound with this most recent release. The concert started off with “Still in Motion,” the opening song from 

. The song’s soft vocals and slow guitar set the tone for a lo-fi jazzy atmosphere. Moving into a groovier rhythm, the band performed “Much After Feeling,” the second song off their new album. This track is about recognizing the sacrifices people have to make to stay connected even with distance between them.

 is an album about change, perspective, and learning to appreciate a moment before it is gone. Austin Getz, the band’s lead singer and songwriter, has attributed the band’s new direction to his newfound love of jazz. Getz said in an interview with Flood Magazine, “The older I get, the more I branch out and the more I consume other types of music, and that stuff starts to show its face a little bit.” One influence that he draws from jazz is its culture of improvisation and freedom. Since Getz has moved to playing the keys for the live shows, he had to teach the new guitar player the parts. Getz mentioned that he liked how he would play it not exactly how it was on the record. “As long as you’re playing in the right key, as long as you’re doing it right, it’s cool.”

Turnover’s intimate performance towards the end of the show. Captured by Harumi Jang

The first half of the show was laid-back and included older songs from the band’s more rock-oriented era, like “New Scream.” These songs had an even softer vibe live than the actual recording.

The Sinclair’s energy was at its peak when the band performed “Take My Head” from their 2015 release 

, which has a punchy fast tempo that got the crowd singing along. According to Turnover’s bassist Danny Dempsey, the track is about how you could be surrounded by happy things, but you still want to be pissed off and sit by yourself.

The next song, “Sending Me Right Back,” featured conga drums and a heavy bassline and was a clear example of the band taking a new direction with their sound.

Turnover then slowed it back down with the song “Pure Devotion” from their 2017 album 

, which is about the feeling of uncertainty about the other person’s commitment or devotion when entering a new relationship.

The rest of the set maintained the relaxed but intimate mood of the room while the crowd swayed to more soft guitar jams about being vulnerable and in love. The band then concluded their set with two upbeat fan favorites from their old albums, “Supernatural” and “Humming.”

Turnover brings intimate, dreamy rock to The Sinclair

Last Dinosaurs is an Austrialian indie rock band known for their synth-like guitar riffs and indie-pop influenced sound. The band first began touring in the US this past year with shows in LA, NYC, and Chicago to promote their third album, 

 released in 2018. Their recent show at The Sinclair featured fellow artists Ginger Root and Born Ruffians as the openers. 

 was written and recorded in Arita, Japan with the band’s main songwriters, Sean (frontman/rhythm guitarist) and Lachlan Caskey (lead guitarist), who are of Japanese heritage. The band sought to escape to somewhere quiet and tranquil to properly capture isolation, creating a new sound for the band.

The show started with “Wurl”, a track from their 2015 album, 

, which put the packed room into an immediate groove. After quickly transitioning into “Bass God” and “Sense”, both from their new album, lead singer Sean told the crowd: “We got a ton of songs to play but not enough time so we’re going to smash through them.” The first half of the show was very high energy with the crowd freely dancing around and headbanging to their more rock heavy songs like “Sunday Night” and “Stream.”

The band slowed it down in the middle, guiding the energy of the room into more of a head-swaying vibe with their slower, disco-pop infused rhythms like “Italo Disco” and “Shallow Boy”, which have more of a sad, honest message than their other upbeat songs. “Italo Disco” is about Lachlan’s time in Italy where he and his long term girlfriend mutually decided it was time to end things.

”Eleven” was their closing song, perfectly encompassing the mix of their newly refined sound with their roots of driving, up-tempo guitar riffs and Lachlan’s dynamic vocals. This song was the most exciting in their performance, with the middle of the floor moshing, and eventually catching Sean who dove in for a brief crowd-surf.

With the crowd screaming for an encore after the four-piece band left the stage, they came back on stage with Sean saying, “You guys 100% deserve another song.” The crowd cheered as the band started playing the old favorite “Honolulu” off of their 2012 debut album,

. At the end the song, he admitted, “This is the longest set we’ve played, oops. We’ve gone overtime,” before diving into the actual last track of the night: their most popular song, “Apollo.”

Last Dinosaurs performed an explosive set that maintained high energy even during their more laid-back songs, with the crowd dancing and swaying throughout the entire show. It was clear there were many big fans in the crowd who were basking in the treat of being able to see the non-US-based band. Last Dinosaurs more than pleased the vibrant audience by going overtime and playing 19 songs, engaging with the fans and delivering a lasting enough performance that the Sinclair’s employees were antsy about them leaving the venue.