Album Review: Bayside - Killing Time (2011)

You can say your favorite band has gone through a lot to get to where they are, and chances are you're right. But that's likely nothing to what Bayside have had to endure on the way to the top of the punk-rock scene. After a horrible van accident claimed the life of their drummer Jon "Beatz" Holoman, Bayside pressed on in his honor, and have put out solid effort after solid effort while tirelessly touring the globe to assert themselves as worthy of their self-proclaimed "Cult" of fans. While 2008's Shudder was considered by some to be their least-loved release (you can't call any Bayside release bad, after all), how would their new album, and first released on Wind-Up Records, stand up to a discography already lined with classic anthems?

Turns out, it just may be their best album yet.

Killing Time has everything you'd come to expect from Bayside: Anthony Raneri's signature vocals delivering his sometimes-cryptic, sometimes-uplifitng, but always heartfelt lyrics, and Jack O' Shea's chugging riffs segueing into soaring, technical solos, but its where the fans see glimpses of things they haven't seen from the Bayside repertoire before where Killing Time begins to set itself apart from the pack. The album opener "Already Gone," which has become an instant fan favorite since the band debuted it in November of 2010, opens with drummer Chris Guglielmo pounding the kit (a theme he revisits throughout the album), and contains a big bass riff thrown down by Nick Ghanbarian. The band continues its sonic evolution in lead singles "Sick, Sick, Sick" and "Mona Lisa," where Raneri provides two of his catchiest choruses yet. Producer Gil Norton's production work provides the band room for creativity, and the arrangements throughout the album (and especially in "On Love, On Life") are a welcome addition to the band's arsenal.

The chances taken on Killing Time make way for the things that fans all know and love from the band. "On Love, On Life" may feel like a simple token acoustic song, but the production value, and arguably Raneri's most heartbroken lyrics in the band's career, will make this a staple at any of the band's acoustic shows. "Already Gone" is by far the hardest-hitting song on the album, and just may be able to hold its ground against "Devotion and Desire" as the definitive Bayside track someday. "The Wrong Way" is just as aggressive as "They're Not Horses, They're Unicorns," and the choruses from "Seeing Sound" and "Its Not a Bad Little War" are two more gems that will serve as rallying cries for fans for years to come. However, the entire album builds up to the anthemic title track. Serving as the album's closer, Raneri declares in the chorus, "Spent all my time, waiting for a moment to come." That moment has most certainly come, and if Bayside's fans have anything to say about it, its been the band's "moment" for years now.

The appeal of Killing Time is very simple: If you've liked any Bayside album before, you'll love it. If you're a fan of punk rock, you'll love it. If you like rock music, of any kind, you'll love this album. Killing Time has everything you would want in a great rock record: fast-paced, heartfelt songs worthy of being screamed back at the band while being played in sold-out concerts. The lyrics will apply to your life in any situation, good or bad, with whatever you're going through. Most importantly, however, is the importance of the album as Bayside's assertion that they are one of the best bands to come out of any genre in the last decade.


Bottom Line: When it comes to the emo/punk scene, Bayside's got the game on lockdown. And if you're listening to anything else, you're only Killing Time.