April 24th, 2012 
Tyler Osborne 
Artist: Citizen / Turnover
Album: Split
Genre: Punk
Label: Run For Cover Records
Splits are generally short so let’s keep this brief.
There’s an excessive amount of bands within the pop-punk scene, all of which are trying to copy one band or another (being from the Philadelphia scene 95% of the bands are trying to sound like The Wonder Years or Man Overboard, and it’s getting old). However bands like Michigan’s Citizen and Richmond, Virginia’s Turnover have taken a different route with their sound, hearing an influence of punk that puts them in the same ballpark as more underground acts like Basement or the forefront of the style, Title Fight. Citizen and Turnover making a split together was such a logical and awesome choice, that it had fans of the genre cheering at the thought of it. Well, we were not disappointed.
Citizen’s side of the split is fantastic. Straight up, no flowery language; it is just a solid set of two songs. Their side opens up with “Drown”, with guitars that have a grungy sound but keep the pace of moving. The song is catchy, is sure to get kids moving and brooding at the time. However Citizen’s stand out track on their side has to be “I’m Sick of Waiting.” There are two specific things about this song that make it great, one of which is the haunting guitar playing/tones of Nick Hamm and Ryland Oehlers. The song starts off loud, but then everything drops and it sounds like the part in the movie where the girl in the rain says, “I can’t do this anymore with you,” and then walks away and everything slows down. It’s calm, serene, but you know it’s about to erupt. Secondly, Mat Kerekes shows a lot of range on this song, having both really soft-spoken vocals and lyrics during the slow section, and then channeling his rage to the end of the song. This band has a lot going for them, and all I want from them right now is a full length and to see them live. It’s getting really annoying frankly.
Turnover’s side, while sticking with what I like to think of as a “darker pop-punk sound,” show more of their pop-punk side then Citizen does. Permanent is very paced, and even in the bridge it still keeps a really great pace. I love Austin Getz’s vocals on this song, they do a great job contrasting the music. This side is definitely for the Title Fight (pre-Shed) fans who want a little lighter of a sound. “No Sun” does not push any boundaries with Turnover’s sound, but since they only really have one release, it’s great to see that the band recognizes and understands what they want to sound like, and I think they solidify it with this release. Turnover does a really good job of keeping it light in the vocal stylings while at the same time really staying dark and aggressive in the musicianship. I’ve found it hard for bands to do this and for me to take them seriously, but Turnover is not one of those groups.
If I had to choose a side (I know it’s not good to do this kind of stuff, but let’s be real, people want to know) I’d have to choose Citizen’s side as my favorite. They stay true to their roots but with this being their third release they are starting to branch out and test themselves, and that’s something I can really appreciate. Turnover shows on this record that they have found their sound, improved on it, and I’m really excited to see what their next effort will be like. Both of these bands have a very, very promising future, and here at UTG we cannot wait to see what’s in store for them. And yes, I know this review wasn’t short.
You can order / stream the record right now from Run For Cover Records’ bandcamp, here. I suggest you do so now.
SCORE: 8.5/10
Written By Tyler Osborne
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The Citizen side blows the Turnover side out of the water. The songs are perfect; catchy as hell and cool as fuck. What more do you want?
I love both these bands. Ordered a package about a week ago for the vinyl and a Citizen shirt.