Bayside

Bayside have been toying with melancholic emotional punk, in the vein of more recent Alkaline Trio material, over their last few releases with various levels of success. A good number of tracks from 2005’s self-titled release and The Walking Wounded hit the mark, but never enough to keep an entire album buoyant; instead, I treated both as mediocre releases with some standout tracks. With Shudder, Bayside have struck gold with 12 very good songs that combine to create a record with a great flow and obvious attention to detail.

These tracks stick to the band’s familiar formula, which should find fans of the band more than content; however, vocalist Anthony Raneri’s lyrics and delivery are more immediate and effectively delivered on Shudder, and the band throws in some new tricks at just the right times to make the entire album worthy of repeated listens, which for me continue to be enjoyable.

Raneri’s lyrics are arguably the band’s most valuable asset, and Shudder offers the man’s best writing to date. Memorable and clever lines are abundant, and bits like: “Fate doesn’t care about plans/You never knew life was a rubber band/The harder that you pull, the more it snaps back; the more it hurts,” although remarkably simple, work well because of Raneri’s end-of-the-rope and genuine delivery, which communicates well through the music, often juxtaposed with upbeat melodies.

Bayside, as on previous releases, are at their best when the interplay between Raneri’s melodies and the songs themselves blend seamlessly. This time, the band not only captures more of these moments, but do so using more contrasting dynamics and less conventional melodies. The verses to “No One Understands” are remarkably upbeat and simple, which contrasts with Raneri’s delivery like night and day. The main riff to “Rochambo,” through different amps, could be a Disturbed riff, and while this could be the formula for disaster, the band welcomes the challenge and crafts one of the best tracks of their catalogue with a structure similar to that employed in favourite “Devotion and Desire.” Finally, the chord progression to the chorus of “A Call To Arms” is fairly obscure, but the band completely fits itself into the melody and makes the song their own.

I’ve been unable to take this record out of rotation since it landed in my possession, so for somebody that’s always enjoyed Bayside but never really gotten into one of their albums, this record feels like a great accomplishment. To be honest, it’s one of the better of the year. Right along with some earlier Trio releases, it’s never felt so good to be depressed.  [ END ]

Track Listing:

01. Boy
02. The Ghost Of St. Valentine
03. No One Understands
04. What And What Not
05. A Call To Arms
06. I Can’t Go On
07. Demons
08. Have Fun Storming The Castle
09. Howard
10. Rochambo
11. I Think I’ll Be OK
12. Moceanu

Run Time: 42:01