Our Turn Catch Your Breath

I think for those of us who are too young to remember the days when 'hardcore was great,' or who were in first-grade around 1988, bands like YOT, Gorilla Biscuits, and Chain Of Strength sort of seem like far-off worlds rather than just older hardcore bands. Unfortunately, those of us who - in addition to being young - actually like that old sound in comparison to a lot of stuff that is coming out today, there's not a whole lot to look forward to other than hoping to find an rare 7" here or there or waiting for represses. But then there are bands like Our Turn. Hailing from the Bay Area, Our Turn play hardcore like they wish it still sounded like. Catch Your Breath contains the 7" from the same name and their 2003 demo, and everything - from the straightforward songwriting, the super-positive message (think straight-edge), lower-fi recording and production, the layout, black and white photo's - screams, "Fuck, I wish I could've been a part of that!" Even the style of CD looks like it was released in the late 80's on Columbia and not by Youngblood. For some, this might be a turn-off, a "That sound was then, and we have what we have now..." kind of mentality. As for me though, I really enjoy the thought of throwing on something that has this much personality to it. While everyone else has traded in their Nike high-tops for Asics, and crew-cuts for messy, dyed-black hair, these guys are sort of living in the past, which I don't think is necessarily a bad thing. Hardcore needs bands like this to remind us that it didn't always use to be about bringin' the mosh or a tough-guy image (for the most part, anyway). Bottom Line: It's been a while since I've been able to find a really great, positive, hardcore band (read: since Good Clean Fun), but Our Turn is exactly what some of us need. This is the perfect blend of Gorilla Biscuits mixed with a little Youth Of Today, and (ignore this analogy-completion if you have to) while the band admits that they're not re-inventing the wheel, when it's already round, you don't always have to.