Oscillate Wildly

Turn are mighty relieved. Their debut album, Antisocial, finally hits the shelves on October 6th. Like finally reaching the end of constipation, is how frontman Ollie Cole explains it. Y see, the album was, for the most part, recorded about a year ago but has taken until now to see the fluorescent light of record shops nationwide.

We need this record, stresses Ollie, who still manages to see the sense in delaying its launch, even though he and the rest of the band have been gnashing their teeth for the guts of 12 months. We have a profile now. People know who we are. If we had put it out when we first made it, everyone would have been wondering who the hell we are. Now, at least there are a few people waiting to hear what it sounds like.
Ollie is being uncharacteristically humble. Over the last year, Turn have toured the UK and Ireland incessantly, building up a large, loyal following into the bargain. The press, particularly in the UK, have championed their cause, with Barfly magazine naming Beretta as one of its singles of the year and NME and Melody Maker regular admirers, while stations like XFM and BBC Radio 1 have playlisted their three independent singles to date.
As usual, getting airplay on the Irish radio stations has proved more difficult, with the notable exception of Dublin pirate Phantom FM, where their Facedown , Beretta , and Beeswax singles have regularly resided in the station s Top 10. So there are more than a handful of people eagerly awaiting Antisocial, and they will not be disappointed.
As well as old favourites like the breathtaking Beretta and I Still Believe , the album contains two newer songs, recorded more recently, in the shape of the magnificent title track and the possible future single, Queen Of My Heart , all of which hint at an even rosier future for the band. As Ollie puts it, the new songs are like the window into what our next album will be like. It s still really noisy but not all the time we re getting into dynamics.
Studio dynamics were far from their minds three years ago, when the Kells, Co. Meath, duo of Ollie (guitars, vocals) and Ian (drums) hooked up with Gavin (bass), a native of Santry in Dublin. Putting such weighty matters as Gaelic football behind them early on, the trio began writing meaty guitar pop songs and soon developed a reputation as ones to watch around the capital. In fact, their second ever gig saw them tread the boards of the Olympia, supporting Teenage Fanclub.
Turn pay tribute to Northern guitarniks Snow Patrol, who asked them to support them in London at a record launch. The trio duly obliged, playing a stormer in front of hordes of influential music business types in their now trademark suits and make-up. On the back of that gig, they ended up signing a record deal with Infectious Records, a publishing deal and meeting their lawyer, Andrew Myers, who, Gavin points out, offered to work for us for free until we got a deal.
From the moment we got together, we were so determined to do something, Ollie stresses. You could see it in our eyes, we were so enthusiastic. I think that is what attracted these people to our cause. The idea of people like Andrew Myers offering to work for nothing is unheard of. People saw how ambitious and genuine we were.
They still have that ambition, that drive to succeed, and they have the songs to back it up. I, for one, was surprised by the stylistic range of the tracks on Antisocial, where there is as much subtlety as power, as much finesse as feisty guitar epics, with tracks like Gav And Anne and These Three Words displaying a gentler side to Turn and even, dare I say, maturity.
When we play live, you can only show so much of the band, Ian explains, so on the album we can have the bigger picture.
We are up for all styles of music, Gavin adds. It would be boring as fuck if we were just a straight rock band. You would come away from a gig and you d remember Beretta but you might not remember anything else. At least we can take it down, play a lovely song and then we can fucking go for it.
Live, we are a full-on punk rock band, Ollie notes. But when it came to the album, we wanted to make a record that would have more lasting appeal. We ve always been into writing the best songs we can possibly write, regardless of style. We re not musical snobs.
Antisocial will be launched officially in the Temple Bar Music Centre on October 6th, with what promises to be one of the gigs of the year. Rumour has it that certain special guests will be joining Turn on stage on the night, and demand for tickets is expected to be extremely high. The album launch will be followed by a UK tour with Idlewild, which will see the trio playing to between 1,500 and 3,000 people every night.
There should be another single out before the end of the year, with the distinct possiblity that Beretta could be re-released. Seeing as its original incarnation was only available on limited edition vinyl, this listener feels that it is their duty to let the public at large hear what is one of the singles of the year.
On the subject of singles, their current seven-inch (ahem) Too Much Make Up touches on such thorny issues as premature ejaculation. I innocently enquired as to the song s (ahem) conception.
It s about sexual frustration, admits the frontman with a broad grin, but even when I wrote it, I didn t know that I just opened my mouth and sang whatever the fuck came into my head. That s the way I write everything: I try and get into a state where I m really drunk, really tired and not really in control of my conscience. Then I write the lyrics down and when I read them, I end up going, What the fuck does that mean? It s English and all the words are in the right order but I don t know what it means. It s only three or four weeks later, you start to figure it out, but Too Much Make Up is definitely about sex.

Antisocial is officially launched in the Temple Bar Music Centre on October 6th.