  
New York City’s Bayside have been on the
punk rock scene for over 13 years now and are
now set to release their sixth studio album ‘Cult’
on Hopeless Records any day now, Bayside signed
to Hopeless Records back in the summer of 2013
and are now set to tour the world over in support
of the release of ‘Cult’ starting
off in America before heading over to the UK and
mainland Europe supporting long running legendary
punk rockers Alkaline Trio.
If you have been a fan of Bayside since the start
then I think you should be pretty excited for
the release of ‘Cult’ as the album
feels like Bayside have been reborn and are back
to their best as they play 11 extremely catchy
songs whilst vocalist Anthony Raneri does what
he does best and tells stories in a big melodic
sing-a-long way.
The album opens with big pounding drum beats on
‘Big Cheese’ and shortly after some
heavy guitar riffs come in and then Anthony Raneri
comes in as his vocals flow in a big confident
way, as the song progresses the hard hitting feel
of the song maintains with amazing instrumental
work chopping and changing throughout, big vocals
and a solid set of backing vocal chants.
‘Time Has Come’ is a big in your face
pop-punk number and it is the exact type of song
you would expect from a band on the Hopeless Records
roster as the song is just so damn big and bouncy
that I can really see this becoming a new fan
favourite once the album has been released and
the fans have giving the album a solid listen
to, lyrically things are well written and equally
as well executed as Anthony Raneri gives off yet
another solid vocal performance.
‘Hate Me’ is quite a dark sounding
track which is also pretty heavy sounding and
has a chant-a-long feel running throughout. ‘You’re
No Match’ is a little aggressive sounding
punk track which is crammed with big guitar riffs
and solid sounding vocals. ‘Pigsty’
stands out the most on the album to me and it’s
mainly due to the diverse vocals that Anthony
Raneri lets off through the song as one minute
they are melodic sounding and then the next they
are quite gruff sounding and yet again tell such
a great story.
The more ‘Cult’ progresses the more
I question how Bayside are not bigger than they
actually are as the band really do know how to
write a good track and each and every member of
the band is talented with the drum beats, basslines,
guitar riffs all shining on their own throughout
the album at different individual moments.
‘Transitive Prperty’ shows off the
more the more emotional and serious side of the
band. ‘Stuttering’ shows off just
how punk rock they can be. ‘Something’s
Wrong’ shows off their more pop orientated
side, whilst ‘Bear With Me’ see’s
the band in a big sing-a-long way which such solid
lyrics as Anthony Raneri sings “Ashes ashes,
Buried in his mattress, slept in flames and smothered
in his blanket”.
With an album as big as ‘Cult’ sounds
I really do find it hard to believe that Bayside
are not bigger than they are but with a new home
on Hopeless Records and the release of ‘Cult’
only a couple of days away and a hectic touring
schedule taking over their lives in 2014 Bayside
really do have the ideal opportunity to show everyone
what they are all about and get the recognition
they truly deserve as let’s face it, it’s
not every day you listen to an album where each
and every track is as listenable as the last yet
each track stands out on its own.
4.5/5
Review by Trigger
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