Rediscovering Favourites with ‘Bayside - Interrobang’

Right off the bat, I’ve got to say this; it’s been a very music-based week for me. Since writing more recent reviews I’ve been spending a lot of my time listening to more music than I have done in a long while. Over this last year, I’ve been more likely to watch history documentaries and YouTube reviewers going at it for the sake of entertainment and knowledge, but very few of them really spark my senses and creativity the way music does. 

Catching up with old favourites like The Used, Silverstein and Alesana has reinstated how music can grow and age over time. On the other hand, making room for groups like Blind Fool Love, Icarus The Owl, and Schoolyard Heroes, has allowed me to branch out into new territory and look at new ways of hearing, seeing, and feeling things. Whether I’m listening to old favourites or having a go at finding new gems, I feel very much at my zenith right now. However, it occurred to me recently that there was one band and album that I’d put to the side for a while, and I’m not very happy about this, because this band has been a firm favourite of mine for a very long time. So to rectify this mild blunder, today I’m going to be talking about the band, Bayside.

Although I became more of a fan of Bayside when I was sixteen years old, the very first time I actually heard them was when I was twelve/thirteen. My older brother had a copy of their third studio album ‘The Walking Wounded’ and would put it on quite often during car journeys. I was a little young and a little new to this type of music at the time to really get what it was about, but I always remembered the album’s title track, ‘The Walking Wounded’ and to this day it’s one of my favourite songs by the band. Little did I know that Bayside would become one of my top ten bands of all time. I have three of their studio albums, one of their t-shirts, which I’m very proud to own, and I’ve even seen them live! Being the one person at one of their shows to start a mosh pit in the centre of the floor is a memory I’ll treasure forever… But I’m getting ahead of myself a bit here. It’s pretty likely that most hardcore music fans will have heard of this band, but perhaps you don’t really know who they are, or what they do.

Well, Bayside is a band from Queens, New York who formed in the year 2000, and I’m guessing that living in this city allowed for the members to have access to a wide variety of live shows. I mention this because it happens to be how they initially got themselves recognised. When attending a concert on Long Island, the band chose the name ‘Bayside’ as a temporary title for the demo CD they intended to give to New Found Glory. The name would eventually stick, and before long they would sign with ‘Dying Wish Records’ who released two of their first EPs, ‘Long Stories Short’ and ‘Bayside/Name Taken’. Eventually, the band would sign with ‘Victory Records’ whom they’d reside with for the next few years, and who would release their first four studio albums, which have been held up as cult classics within the Sub-stream Punk scene. Despite being lesser-known then some other Punk and Pop Punk acts, Bayside have retained a major, loyal fan base over their sustained career of twenty years, and have released eight full-length studio albums. 

Bayside’s sound tends to deviate a little between Punk Rock, Emo and Melodic Hardcore, this being down to very rhythm-heavy and catchy music, along with introspective and personal lyrics. They aren’t quite as politically potent as other Punk bands like Rise Against or Billy Talent, but neither are they quite as heavy or Screamo based as Senses Fail or Silverstein. I’d say more comparable bands would include Alkaline Trio, Say Anything and I The Avalanche, but even then, Bayside stands out amongst them as a band that treads it’s own path. There’s something to their songs throughout that has a certain formula to it. Simple, melodic, catchy Emo Punk with kick-arse guitar riffs, fast-paced drums, and playful bass. But this also leaves a bit of room in their discography for small additions and flavourings, like Cabaret, Americana, Rock’n’Roll and even some Barbershop Quartet like harmonies. These additions, as well as others, tend to add more to the formula rather than distorting or changing it too much. But it would seem now that you could also add Melodic Metalcore and Progressive Rock to this list, as it seems to be a frequent experimentation for Bayside in their most recent album ‘Interrobang’ 

‘Interrobang’, released in October of last year (2019), premises itself as an album in which the band tried something new and different. Despite the cult-like loyal fan base having a love for anything that Bayside records, I think there was a growing sentiment within the music community and music industry alike, that maybe the band were becoming a bit stale. While I too love their signature sound, I must say it is nice to hear them attempt something a little unconventional for them. Their eighth studio release has something a little different from their more previous works. There’s more of a hardened, mature edge to this album that drains some of the quenching emotive flavour for something more Hardcore and Metal influenced. Although not derailing the song structures too much from their usual direction, we have more focus on fast, ever-changing drum beats, sinister, almost perverse bass pickings, and explosive, further reaching guitar riffs. When I try and listen to the instrumentation separately from each other, I get a sense of sounds more alike with bands such as Beartooth, Avenged Sevenfold and Atreyu.

 Lead singer Anthony Raneri’s New Yorker voice still gives the songs it’s scrappy heart and does actually accommodate the heavier influences rather well. Bayside have never been a band that made use of screamed vocals, which to me speaks volumes for how they refuse to follow a most followed path. I have often wondered in the past what Bayside would sound like if they had more of a Metalcore inspired soundtrack, and I’m actually quite happy they chose not to use screams here. I think their trademark, clean singing suits them rather better than fry vocals would. Some might say this is a prolonged stubbornness of the band to do their own thing and being unable to embrace too much change, but I think this comes down more to their ability to wear different styles and influences in their own way. When they intend to try something new, they don’t think to themselves, ‘How do we be completely different?’. They think, ‘How do we try something new, while keeping this a Bayside record?’ and there’s something quite admirable about that.

Punk Metal inspired riffs and bridges will be quite prevalent throughout this record, but the best examples of this are in songs like ‘Prayers’, ‘Bury Me’ and ‘White Flag’. On the other hand, songs such as ‘Interrobang’ and ‘Numb’ seem to drench themselves more in the album’s Progressive elements, with long reaching streams and spiralling rises throughout the bridges and interludes that fit the band rather well. Other songs like ‘Tall’ and ‘Walk It Off’ start off with Folk like intros and persevere with more Pop-Punk or Alternative Rock like melodies, something which they've worked with in the past. As has been rather typical for most of Bayside’s more recent albums, ‘Interrobang’ also features creative song structures throughout, with very catchy Rock’n’Roll like rhythms, abrupt or elongated cut offs and endings, and vocals that can range from deep and smooth to high and scarred. I’d say that the song ‘Numb’ in particular makes nice use of all of these elements, being one of the more emotional, and perhaps in a rare example of humility, expressing lyrics of apology and remorse.

 Having listened to this album twice in the last 24 hours, it’s struck me slightly that maybe i’m trying to find something in here that is reflective of Bayside’s earlier works like ‘The Walking Wounded’. I’ve come to the conclusion however that any of Bayside’s initial flavour that is usually carried in every album, is not very present in ‘Interrobang’. And that’s okay, they don’t have to sound exactly the same all the time. They decided that they wanted to try something new, and they’ve done a good job of exploring that. Many of the songs on the album are either very fun and full of energy or melodically profound and insightful. But it’s very different from what I would associate with a Bayside album. That reason alone might not warrant criticism, but when paired with over complexity in the instrumentation of songs, it makes for a dull tone that’s a little disappointing. There are definitely parts of this album that I love, but it’s not really everything I hoped for. Whether it be down to the musical arrangement or the fact that it’s only ten tracks long, it feels a little hit and miss. Then again, I’ve been wrong about Bayside albums before now, so maybe it needs a bit more time to click in.

I’ve always been quick to give Bayside the benefit of the doubt with new albums. The main reason for this is because, even if they produce something that isn’t perfect for me, there’s always a very high chance that either my opinion will change, or I’ll find something in their work that I grow to love and appreciate more. And maybe that’ll be the case for ‘Interrobang’. At this point there are at least one or two songs from the track list that have become gem-like favourites for me. I also have to admire that even though they tried something different on this record, this four piece Punk band continues to stick to its own guns and follow its own path, something which I’m sure they’ll continue to do for a long time to come. I don’t know if ‘Interrobang’ will grow into being a new favourite, but it doesn’t really matter. I still love this band. I will still wear their t-shirt proudly, and I will still listen to their music for as long as I live. Because honestly, when you have a band that’s had such a furtive and personal impact on your life, how can you not?

In any case, let’s get down to the marking now. So for being one of my earliest examples of Rock Music, and very rarely leaving me disappointed or betrayed, I’m going to give Bayside a loyal 9/10. But, for writing an album that at times feels a little lacking despite its efforts, I’m going to give ‘Interrobang’ a 6.5/10. Admittedly that is a little low, but don’t let that discourage you from giving this album a listen if it takes your fancy.

I’ve got to say, it was good to get back into Bayside and give this album a listen. Despite any misgivings I might have about ‘Interrobang’ I would generally recommend Bayside to anyone who was interested. If you give them a try, I have no doubt they’ll become a firm new favourite for you. Thank you for reading this review, and I hope you enjoyed it. I’m now going to go put on my Bayside t-shirt and have an Ugly Betty marathon. So, I’ll see you guys next week.