Review – Bayside – Killing Time

I have always been a bit of a casual fan when it comes to Bayside, and can’t really ever remember listening to one of their albums all of the way through. I really like their tracks “Masterpiece” and “Devotion and Desire”, and they have always been pretty solid in the live environment, but I haven’t ever really “gotten into them” as such.

I had heard really good things about their latest record, so I thought that I would check it out and give it a chance. Killing Time starts off really strongly, with the first few tracks coming thick and fast and sounding great. Already Gone, Sick Sick Sick, Mona Lisa, and It’s Not A Bad Little War are great tracks, and as solid as they are on first listen, they will undoubtedly only become more memorable, the more you listen to them. On my initial listen it was clear that they were awesome songs, and that they could lodge themselves in your head, much like the aforesaid hits from Bayside’s back catalogue, if you gave them a chance to impress you.

For me though, Killing Time all seemed to fall apart a little from the middle onwards. It seemed like some of the tracks got quite samey and indistinguishable from the others, failing to make any sort of solid impression. It might be that it takes a few more listens to really get into them properly, but they failed to get me excited on the first run through, which was a bit disappointing after how strong the album started. They didn’t come across as particularly bad songs, but they just didn’t stand out as much as the first ones did, and sounded weaker altogether. However, the first few tracks means that this album is certainly worth coming back for, and I will give it another listen at some point the future to see if they others grow on me.

All in all it is a solid effort from a band who have been real mainstays of the scene over the years, but who have never really managed to ever break out of the mould and shake of their tag of being the ever reliable underdogs. Anthony Ranieri and his crew have inspired so many other bands, and then seen them go on to bigger and better things, and their hardcore fans will believe it is time they took the limelight as their own. It does not look as though they will do so on this showing, but it was still an enjoyable and more than competent effort. It could have been an absolute belter, but at the moment, it stays around the middle of the range, at least until I listen to it again and see if the latter parts of the album grow on me and impress me as much as the first part did.

6.5/10