Bayside – Killing Time

Over the past couple of years, Bayside has worked its way into my listening habits.  Prior to that, a combination of their popularity, poppy sound, and label affiliation had soured my first impression; allowing my bias to get the best of me.  I had always assumed that they were simply another pack of naïve trend following pop-punk kids, so it was with some embarrassment that I stumbled upon and wholeheartedly embraced 2008’s Shudder.  After that moment, I associated the name Bayside with tuneful, thoughtful, and well-written pop-punk contrary to those initial, unfounded judgments.

Now, five studio albums into their career, the Queens quartet continues strengthening their track record with Killing Time, and I’m finally here to embrace it firsthand.  What makes Bayside so remarkable is their knack for sounding so simple and common, and making it inviting and unique time upon time.  Stylistically and in terms of ability, the group sits on par with only a few others mastering their brand – like The Smoking Popes and Motion City Soundtrack.  Opening with the alternative flavoured riffs of “Already Gone,” vocalist Anthony Raneri starts up with his energetic, smooth but energetic fluctuations.  And at least for this listener, that’s where you find Bayside’s selling point.  Raneri commands a very steady range – consistent might be a good word – that never bounces between heavy extremes without first passing back through a purgatory of mid-range calmness.  In other words, he takes his time, enunciating each syllable and completing successive sentences with a perfectionist’s eye.  The album takes a harder guitar stance than in previous work, but ­­­Raneri’s mellow voice tames that edge, making the change work for the group.  While one might think this stifles overall energy, the group avoids the issue by infusing some sporadic gang shouts into the fray as per “Sick, Sick, Sick,” and “The Wrong Way.”

Another inviting draw making a return comes with their colourful expressions.  For their pleasantly playful side, check out the very cheeky “Seeing Sound,” demonstrating a rich sense of self awareness through lines like “this is a first scene of an act with my own hands stuck in my back, around here the puppet is the puppeteer, and I was down for the proverbial count/so what do you want from me, another song about apathy? Heartbreak is a friend these days, but I couldn’t care less, cause that’s what I get paid to say.”

Yet another point of particular interest sits nestled in the second verse of “The Wrong Way.”  Raneri speaks with a dark humour reminiscent of Alkaline Trio’s Dan Adriano as he scorns “You’re the type of girl that puts on cyanide perfume, then asks for girls on the neck from every boy in the room.”  Granted, not every line speaks at that level, but they’re a far cry from those misleading, thoughtless imitators.

Bayside also seems to have taken note of positive attitudes towards their prior Acoustic album, and including the heartfelt piano track, “On Love, On Life.”  This is a shinning example of a song that highlights Raneri’s effortless ability and power for commanding listeners’ attention through minimal output.

Killing Time is a basic album at heart – ten tracks of slick and simple pop-punk – and very easy to get into.  While there are those that will point out that Bayside may not have changed all that much over the years, neither have many of their equals.  Maybe if this style of alternative pop-punk fusion was more widely attempted that would matter, but as it stands now, a new Bayside album every couple years is a good thing.  Eat it up.