Turnstile Summer? Brendan Yates Reacts to Charli XCX’s Surprise Co-Sign at Coachella

Brendan Yates didn’t see it coming. One second, he’s lying in bed in Baltimore. The next, his phone is lighting up like a pinball machine.

Charli XCX had just casually tossed his band into the cultural ring at Coachella, suggesting Summer 2025 might not be about her Brat era anymore—but could instead be Turnstile Summer.

“I thought it was a joke,” Yates told The Independent. “I was like, what is this AI image?” Totally fair. These days, you never know if a co-sign is real or machine-generated. But this one was legit—and it hit different.

Charli ended her weekend-two set with a flash of future headlines across the screens behind her: “Lorde Summer,” “Pulp Summer,” “A$AP Rocky Summer,” and then—out of nowhere—“Turnstile Summer.” A totally unexpected and unprompted boost from one of pop’s sharpest minds.

“She’s really special and makes music that resonates with a lot of people, so to get that nod was really nice,” Yates added. Low-key understatement for what could become one of the most surreal flexes in Turnstile’s already wild ascent.

And to be fair, if any band’s owning this summer, it might just be them. Their new record Never Enough is copping love from everyone—Metal Hammer, NME, The Guardian. It’s loud, weird, sharp, soulful—peak Turnstile. They’re headlining Outbreak London this weekend, hitting Glastonbury soon, and still riding a wave that started when Glow On cracked hardcore wide open.

Still, Yates is keeping his feet on the ground. “The fact that the band can exist for this long and everyone still deeply loves each other—it feels like a miracle sometimes,” he says. It’s that balance—explosive energy and inner calm—that makes Turnstile what they are: a band not chasing the moment, but becoming it.

So is it Turnstile Summer? Maybe. Or perhaps it’s just a band hitting their stride while the rest of the world finally catches up.

But we’ll say this: if it is Turnstile’s season, it’s well earned.