The turbulence that ran through the hardcore scene in the opening months of 2025 left a power vacuum of sorts for the next wave of up and comers. With the genre as a whole currently buoyed by Turnstile‘s infectious brand of melodic hardcore, there’s more than enough space for other artists to follow in their wake and make a name for themselves.
It almost seemed like that was going to happen this year, until this past March saw at least two rising bands who had managed to score bigger tours and festival opportunities outside of the scene both disintegrate amid a flurry of allegations and scandals. While there’s been some intriguing prospects to emerge in their place since, there’s still no clear successors as of yet.
As Turnstile‘s “NEVER ENOUGH” has shown, the ceiling for hardcore in 2025 isn’t just the beat-up panel tiles of VFW halls and an endless series of destination festivals and support slots. However, if we’re being honest, while Turnstile proudly fly the banner, the melodic evolution of the past few albums has become increasingly distant from what more than a few consider to be actual ‘hardcore.’
It’s that potential longing of a melding of hardcore’s more traditional abrasive roots and ideals meshed Turnstile‘s melodic sensibilities that may well pay off in Good Teal‘s favor. Born out of the COVID era, this New Jersey quartet’s sound is a self-described amalgamation of punk rock, metalcore, hardcore, garage rock and more.
And while that mix may sound about as revolutionary as a split 7″ single on paper, it’s how this band approach their craft and implement unfiltered authenticity into their songwriting that sets them apart. For a debut, this self-titled outing is shockingly full-formed.
Yes, the melodic sensibilities of bands like Turnstile and ANGEL DU$T are prevalent. But there’s also a welcome abundance of heavier elements too. Be it seemingly spiritual nods to explosive mid-90s post-hardcore standouts like Orange 9mm or some thrashy menacing crossover of old.
While that all still sounds pretty safe in today’s scene, the real curveball on “Good Teal” comes in the form of the soulful melodies and deceptively catchy singalong parts that wouldn’t sound out of place on a TV On The Radio record.
Nearly each of the included eight tracks is invigorating in its own way. The songwriting ebbs and flows with an intrinsic attention to rewarding payoffs and inventive part changes — an area of expertise that saw Turnstile rocket to the top. However, unlike Turnstile, Good Teal have no shortage of bellowing screams or scalding refrains, and they expertly channel that raw emotion through some truly exhilarating songwriting.
The opening track “Parasites” is an instant standout. While it may initially present itself as an astute distillation of lessons learned from the brightest melodic hardcore stars, it’s presented with enough personality that it feels familiar and abstract at the same time.
The unexpected instrumental segue, “Newark Vs. Brimstone“, unfurls like a 60s psych rock music box grinding its broken gears. That it leads directly into one of the album’s fiercest tracks, the seething crossover rager “Excusing The Hurt“, is a cunning ploy. The eventual shred-laden soloing that ensues on the latter finds these two diametrically opposed tracks serving as a rather a genius one-two punch combo.
At its core, this effort nails many of the hallmarks of modern hardcore that fans have come to know and love, yet feels memorable and vital in how it not only embraces the future, but also reveres the past. Vocalist/bassist Reg Mason‘s delivery might be enough to make Chaka Malik blush at times, but it lands with enough reverence and charisma that he quickly establishes himself as his own entity.
The thunderous drumming of Shane Stanton is also noteworthy in how it brings an almost tribal flair to the band’s output. His persistent hammering on the toms gives the music a primal, bottom-heavy sense of weight and oomph.
Perhaps the only potential misstep on this effort is the song “Bittersweet“. A proverbial ballad of sorts, it feels out of place with its syrupy pop-punk refrains, even if it is admittedly competent. However, in being placed as the penultimate track, rather than the closer, it’s tame vision and lack of punchiness finds it serving as a bit of a momentum killer — especially when contrasted with the enthralling catharsis of the songs that preceded it.
What stands out most about Good Teal though is just how sophisticated this debut effort feels. In terms of execution and scope, it almost brings to mind a miniature scale representation of Refused‘s “The Shape Of Punk To Come” — at least when it comes to its levels of confidence and vision. Sure you won’t hear any oddball jazz breakdowns or skits, but you will experience some of the most spirited and crafty melodic hardcore to have arrived in 2025.
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