KateBandit
01/13/09, 10:35 AM
Bayside - Shudder
Record Label: Victory Records
Release Date: September 30, 2008
After following this band through high school and growing up as their music matured, I was anxious to see the progression they made with their latest album, Shudder. What resulted is a solid album with classic material. Unfortunately, however, I was still disappointed as a fan. The reason for this is that when The Walking Wounded was released, I was captivated from the first chord to the silence after the album ended. I had been blown away by the raw emotion and the very distinct maturation that distanced them from their more generic self-titled album. I realize that this made my expectations enormously high for Shudder, expecting to see another drastic change in style and skill. While my standards may have hindered my opinion a bit, Shudder is still a very good album, embedded with the higher skill of instrumentation that Bayside showcased when they stepped up for The Walking Wounded, but perhaps a little shy of the same emotional power.
In the opening track, “Boy,” the band matches Anthony Raneri’s lethargic singing style with a slow start, then crescendos into a strong finish. This song sets the tone for the rest of the album, which is dripping with the classic Bayside angst that we as fans have grown to love. Whether it is the cold contention in “The Ghost of St. Valentine” that "There is no love just appetite/ And its consequences keep me up at night," a line that resonates with the listener, or the very reclusive theme in "No One Understands," which needs no explanation beyond its title.
An interesting inclusion is the song “A Call To Arms,” in which Bayside abandons their normal song pattern to indulge in a little bit of fast swing within the influence. The song actually works great with Raneri’s voice, which is a great tool for irony as he sings of improvement; the words “A new experienced me” sung out with such a lack of optimism is one of the key qualities that sets this band apart from others. If we can dabble in guilty pleasures for a moment, the song is also quite reminiscent of Paramore’s “Fences,” another skillfully constructed pop song.
An additional highlight is the song “I Can’t Go On”. Although some aspects of the song (especially the vocals) need a little bit of hard listening to get past some over production and into the raw emotion of Anthony’s voice, it is still nicely constructed and is more like a slow track that could have been on The Walking Wounded.
A final noteworthy song is the eerie closer, “Moceanu,” which happened to be my favorite track upon first listen. In it, Bayside channel the success they had with their acoustic album and allow a nice, stripped-down song to end the album. Although the whole dark carnival feeling is a bit hackneyed in the scene lately with countless bands including Chiodos and Bright Eyes, the song is addicting and Bayside pull it off well.
In the end, Shudder is a nice solid album filled with tracks that are pleasant to listen to and even greater to see performed live. Although I have my qualms with the over-produced nature of the some of the songs and the inclusion of a bit more indifference, thematically, then their previous albums, this album is still in common rotation in my car stereo, I still have a blast going to see these guys live, and I am still excited to hear what Bayside puts out in the future.
Punchline; Alkaline Trio; The Smoking Popes; The Matches
myspace.com/bayside (http://www.myspace.com/bayside)
Record Label: Victory Records
Release Date: September 30, 2008
After following this band through high school and growing up as their music matured, I was anxious to see the progression they made with their latest album, Shudder. What resulted is a solid album with classic material. Unfortunately, however, I was still disappointed as a fan. The reason for this is that when The Walking Wounded was released, I was captivated from the first chord to the silence after the album ended. I had been blown away by the raw emotion and the very distinct maturation that distanced them from their more generic self-titled album. I realize that this made my expectations enormously high for Shudder, expecting to see another drastic change in style and skill. While my standards may have hindered my opinion a bit, Shudder is still a very good album, embedded with the higher skill of instrumentation that Bayside showcased when they stepped up for The Walking Wounded, but perhaps a little shy of the same emotional power.
In the opening track, “Boy,” the band matches Anthony Raneri’s lethargic singing style with a slow start, then crescendos into a strong finish. This song sets the tone for the rest of the album, which is dripping with the classic Bayside angst that we as fans have grown to love. Whether it is the cold contention in “The Ghost of St. Valentine” that "There is no love just appetite/ And its consequences keep me up at night," a line that resonates with the listener, or the very reclusive theme in "No One Understands," which needs no explanation beyond its title.
An interesting inclusion is the song “A Call To Arms,” in which Bayside abandons their normal song pattern to indulge in a little bit of fast swing within the influence. The song actually works great with Raneri’s voice, which is a great tool for irony as he sings of improvement; the words “A new experienced me” sung out with such a lack of optimism is one of the key qualities that sets this band apart from others. If we can dabble in guilty pleasures for a moment, the song is also quite reminiscent of Paramore’s “Fences,” another skillfully constructed pop song.
An additional highlight is the song “I Can’t Go On”. Although some aspects of the song (especially the vocals) need a little bit of hard listening to get past some over production and into the raw emotion of Anthony’s voice, it is still nicely constructed and is more like a slow track that could have been on The Walking Wounded.
A final noteworthy song is the eerie closer, “Moceanu,” which happened to be my favorite track upon first listen. In it, Bayside channel the success they had with their acoustic album and allow a nice, stripped-down song to end the album. Although the whole dark carnival feeling is a bit hackneyed in the scene lately with countless bands including Chiodos and Bright Eyes, the song is addicting and Bayside pull it off well.
In the end, Shudder is a nice solid album filled with tracks that are pleasant to listen to and even greater to see performed live. Although I have my qualms with the over-produced nature of the some of the songs and the inclusion of a bit more indifference, thematically, then their previous albums, this album is still in common rotation in my car stereo, I still have a blast going to see these guys live, and I am still excited to hear what Bayside puts out in the future.
Punchline; Alkaline Trio; The Smoking Popes; The Matches
myspace.com/bayside (http://www.myspace.com/bayside)