Bayside, The Walking Wounded

Straight up, I’m not really a huge Bayside fan. I had heard of the band before but never really heard much from them up until now. Obviously, I therefore have no real idea how The Walking Wounded stacks up against their previous output. What I do know, however, is that regardless of (or maybe as a result of) my relative unfamiliarity with the band, The Walking Wounded pretty much rocked me from the first listen. The songs are poppy, catchy, and sung cleanly, but the band has a pretty huge post-hardcore guitar sound going on that really adds to the proceedings. Honestly, the guitar work is what stands out the most to me…most bands that are vocally and lyrically in step with Bayside don’t have a raging six-string maelstrom behind them. That really sold me from the start.

Song-wise, the album is full of interesting dynamics and musical ideas, like the title track’s first verse shift from insane guitar riffage to waltzy carnival march; that’s not something that you hear everyday from a loud rock band. Actually, these days, you almost never get a taste of anything remotely left-of-center, but Bayside manages to somehow sound somewhat experimental (“progressive” might be a more apropos term) and poppy at the same time to my ears. Bayside also like their tempo shifts and rests, which makes for a pretty engaging listening experience from a band that could probably phone in much simpler songs and still do pretty well. On top of that, they can play the hell out of their instruments, which is a refreshing thing to hear. As a result, the entire record sounds huge and pretty much begs for repeated listens.

So yeah, let me revise that first sentence: I wasn’t really a huge Bayside fan…but thanks to The Walking Wounded, I am now.