In 2022, Turnstile announced the departure of founding guitarist Brady Ebert, a sudden and shocking change for the band. Ebert and Turnstile frontman Brendan Yates were childhood friends, and their split was ugly enough that courts reportedly got involved. I still have no idea what happened there, and I can only hope that nobody did anything sketchy. Before I interviewed Turnstile for The Guardian last year, I was told that the subject of Ebert was off the table. It's weird! Anyway, Ebert has a new band now.
Ebert is now the guitarist for a Baltimore hardcore band called the S.E.T., which also has Flatspot Records co-founder Che Figueroa on bass and former End It drummer Ryan Fauver. The frontman is a guy named Tim, and as far as I can tell he's never been in a band before. For the past few months, videos of the S.E.T. playing shows around Baltimore have been popping up in my Instagram feed. Today, they announce their debut EP Self Evident Truth.
The S.E.T. recorded Self Evident Truth with producer Justin Day, and Sebastian Gorgone from OG Baltimore hardcore band Gut Instinct appears on one track. The first single is a chest-thumping stomper called "TMT." It's a simple, primal hardcore song that doesn't have much in common with Turnstile, though Ebert definitely still knows how to write a catchy, energizing riff.
In a press release, Ebert lays out a manifesto: "In the Declaration of Independence, the two self evident truths were that all people are created equal and that everyone has the right to pursue happiness. Unfortunately, the powers that be have forgotten that and are trying to deny us normal working class citizens those truths, and we can’t let that happen." The Rob Silver-directed "TMT" video is full of Baltimore imagery that makes me very, very homesick. Even the gun stuff makes me homesick. I cannot explain this. Below, check out that cliip and the Self Evident Truth tracklist.
TRACKLIST:
01 "This Chain"
02 "TMT"
03 "White Lies" (feat. Gut Instinct)
04 "Predetermined Hate"
05 "Prey Strikes Back"
06 'Truth Revealed"
07 "Self Evident Truth"
If you want to hear a very different Turnstile-related song, SPELLLING just shared a new version of "Portrait Of My Heart," the title track from her very good 2024 album, that features Brendan Yates. (Turnstile guitarist Pat McCrory already appeared on "Alibi," another song from that LP.) Here's the version with Yates:
The Self Evident Truth EP is out 3/6 on Flatspot. The S.E.T.'s next show is 1/31 at the Baltimore hardcore fest Disturbin' The Peace.
