Peripheral Vision (album)

Background and production

Guitarist Eric Soucy joined Turnover in 2014. Danny Randon of Upset wrote that Soucy had a "major influence" on the band's composing process. In March, a four-way split EP was released featuring Turnover, Such Gold, Maker and Ivy League, TX. Turnover's contribution was the song "I Would Hate You If I Could". Bassist Danny Dempsey considered the song "our first step at walking away" from the style of their first album, Magnolia (2013).

In August 2014, it was announced that the band would be working with Will Yip in the fall. It was later revealed that they would be recording an album. While working in pre-production, Yip was as thrilled with the new material as the group was. Recording took place at Studio 4 in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Yip handled producer duties and engineered the sessions, with assistance from Colin Gorman. Yip mixed the recordings with Vince Ratti, and Ryan Smith mastered the album at Sterling Sound in New York City.

Composition

All of the songs that ended up on the album were credited to the band and Yip. The album's sound has been described as indie rock, pop, and dream pop. The shift in sound was unintentional according to singer/guitarist Austin Getz. Him and guitarist Eric Soucy would come up with guitar parts individually "and whatever comes out comes out." The band didn't plan on "mak[ing] this kind of record." Getz had been listening to "a lot of stuff from the 1980s, late 70s."

The ambient humming heard throughout the album is the result of a Superego guitar pedal. The band had bought the pedal to use on their debut album but didn't "utilize it a lot", according to Dempsey. For Peripheral Vision, however, the group "use[d] it a lot", making "everything sound a lot bigger than it really is." Discussing "Cutting My Fingers Off", Dempsey mentioned it was about "things [that] will go wrong in your life and at first you'll think it's okay. [...] but then you realize it sucks." Talking about "Take My Head", Dempsey revealed the song was "about how it could be the best day and you're surrounded by happy things, but you still want to be pissed off and sit by yourself."

Release

On March 10, 2015, Peripheral Vision was announced for release. The album's artwork was also revealed. A day later, "Cutting My Fingers Off" was made available for streaming. In March and April, Turnover supported New Found Glory on their tour of the U.S. On this tour, the band were selling burned CDs of "Cutting My Fingers Off". Despite the fact the album wasn't released by this point, the band played seven songs from it. Referring to their past material, Dempsey revealed that the group "didn't want to play songs we weren't stoked on." Dempsey later remarked that the tour wasn't ideal for the band. A music video was released for "New Scream" on March 30. It was directed by the brother of guitarist Eric Soucy, Rob. "Cutting My Fingers Off" was released as a single a day later. On April 17, "Humming" was made available for streaming. Peripheral Vision was made available for streaming on April 29 and was released on May 4 through Run for Cover. In June and July, the band supported Fireworks on their tour of the U.S. In August, the band supported The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die and Pianos Become the Teeth.

In September and October 2015, the band supported Lydia on their tour of the U.S. In October and November, the band supported The Story So Far. In January 2016, the band toured alongside Citizen in the UK and Europe. Following this, the band tour the U.S. with Citizen again, as well as Sorority Noise and Milk Teeth in March and April. On May 16, a music video was released for "Humming", directed by Rob Soucy. The video features a women walking through a desert community, which contains "a series of different people including ballerinas, mariachi bands, and other desert eccentrics", according to Noisey. Later in May, the band supported Basement on their tour of Australia and headlined the Ice Grill$ Tour in Japan. In June, the band went on a headlining east coast tour of the U.S. with support from Sports and Secret Space, and a headlining west coast tour of the U.S. in August with support from Triathalon. In early October, the band supported Moose Blood on their tour of the UK. From mid October to early November, the band went on a headlining tour of Europe with support from Sorority Noise and Milk Teeth.

Reception

Peripheral Vision charted in the U.S. on several Billboard charts: number 19 on Alternative Albums, number 4 on Heatseekers Albums, number 15 on Independent Albums and number 28 on Top Rock Albums.

Peripheral Vision was listed on Alternative Press's "Best Albums of 2015 so far" list. It was ranked at number 3 on AbsolutePunk's top albums of 2015 list. Stereogum listed "Cutting My Fingers Off" on their "The 5 Best Songs Of The Week" list.

Track listing

All songs written by Turnover and Will Yip.

1. "Cutting My Fingers Off" – 3:16
2. "New Scream" – 4:12
3. "Humming" – 3:58
4. "Hello Euphoria" – 3:46
5. "Dizzy on the Comedown" – 4:15
6. "Diazepam" – 3:19
7. "Like Slow Disappearing" – 3:55
8. "Take My Head" – 3:13
9. "Threshold" – 1:28
10. "I Would Hate You If I Could" – 4:03
11. "Intrapersonal" – 3:46

Personnel

Personnel per booklet.