Transit – Stay Home

Stay Home is Transit‘s third release is two years but the first to hit my years; but if this six song EP is any indication of what is to come from Transit in the coming years, you can be sure it won’t be the last.

From the opening riff of the title track, you get the idea of what to expect. A building guitar riff pulls you in and you instantly imagine people starting to run across the centre of an open pit, the rough vocals come in mere seconds later and the people are no longer just running, but singing, screaming and throwing their hands in the air in unison. A sense of community fills your head as the mid-nineties post-hardcore plays through and you picture Lifetime, Strike Anywhere and Static Radio NJ.

The music ebbs and flows, pulls and pushes, it contradicts and unifies and with each passing listen, the allure of Stay Home becomes stronger and you no longer hear only the evident, older post-hardcore elements but you also see Transit stepping into the twenty-first century as they use trademarks of today’s post-hardcore and emo elites. I’m talking about the dueling and layered vocals that crisscross on every track, it’s the same style that brought Taking Back Sunday such fame in 2001 – only Transit aren’t as poppy. The alternating vocals from the three vocalists still push the songs forward, much more than a singular singer could accomplish on his own. On Stays The Same, the vocal delivery sounds more like Buddy Nielsen of Senses Fail in both tempo and accent. It sounds as if Nielsen is there on the track,but is backed something more aggressive than the sometimes overly produced Senses Fail tracks.

Outbound starts off softly, a soothing acoustic melody and layered vocals create a stark contrast to the fury of it’s predecessors; but the Saves The Day / Say Anything styled track is still able to create the same connection with the listener. The three vocalists trade lines back and forth before the entire band joins in for the final chorus of the album, creating a perfect sing-along chorus that will surely become a live staple for the band.

Fans of Lifetime, Static Radio, A Wilhelm Scream, Living With Lions, or Taking Back Sunday will all find something in Transit to keep them coming back for more. The record constantly reminds you of old favourites, some of which you may have long forgotten, and pulls you into an imaginary skatepark show – crowded, sweaty and riffled with movements all around but controlled through a sense of unity and community. That is what listening to Stay Home does, it creates more than just a sonic sensation but also a visual and emotional one.