There’s a different kind of buzz you get when you press play on a record and you know one of the people behind it. It’s more personal. When I heard Stoke-on-Trent’s The Thirteenth Turn were dropping their debut full-length, I was intrigued. But knowing their singer is a fellow Dutchie? That changed everything.
The band’s chosen name for the album, Bokkenrijder, hit me straight away. For anyone outside the Low Countries, it’s just a cool, aggressive-sounding title. For us, it conjures tales of the "Goat Riders"—18th-century outlaw gangs, rebels, and ghosts who terrorised the countryside of Limburg. It’s a piece of dark folklore, a perfect metaphor for a band that channels raw, rebellious energy.
The Thirteenth Turn bills themselves as “tough as nails streetpunk with a hardcore attitude,” and they’re not kidding. The sound is a brew of classic UK punk and the direct, uncompromising punch of the Dutch hardcore scene I grew up with.
The album takes you on a tour of their world. “The Streets Where I Belong” is a grimy, nocturnal anthem. The guitars grind, and the vocals feel like they’re being shouted into a rain-slicked alleyway. It’s storytelling you can feel in your bones. Then there’s “Never Back Down,” an absolute beast of a track built for the pit. The riffs are sharp, the energy is relentless, and the chorus is a pure, chant-along call to arms.
What makes Bokkenrijder so damn good is its honesty. In a world of overproduced rock, this record is refreshingly raw. You can practically feel the sweat and adrenaline of a live show baked into the recording. There’s no studio trickery, just five guys in a room, channelling the energy of the streets into their instruments.
As someone who loves seeing Dutch influence seep into the global scene, Bokkenrijder is a real treat. The Thirteenth Turn has created something that feels both familiar and fiercely new. It’s a clenched-fist tribute to survival, defiance, and the streets that shape us—whether they’re in Stoke-on-Trent or Holland. Get this record. Play it loud. This is the real deal.
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