Transit

Keep This To Yourself

Written by: DR on 26/12/2010 15:21:10

2010 has seen something of a 'revival' in pop punk. Not that it was really lacking in numbers before, but bands like The Wonder Years, Man Overboard, Title Fight and now Transit seem to have given the genre fresh impetus by calling more on the 'punk' part and adding little more than a shit-load of honestly and heart; even elitists like me can't help but fall in love with it when it's executed like this. "Keep This To Yourself" is no different.

There are 14 songs here, all squeezed into 38 minutes, which of course means that they're kept short and sweet - in fact, only one surpassess the 3-minute mark - which suits Transit's style of playing up-tempo pop punk, getting the songs in and out without ever over-staying their welcome. The guitar-work is more than the three-chord approach too, see songs such as "Return Address" and "Dear Anyone" for prime examples of how either guitarist is free to constrct their own patterns, thus, often resulting in intricate melodies to balance out the hardcore-influenced riffage.

For a pop-punk album there are surprisingly few hooks. We all love a good singalong, but that's not what Transit are about, so the lack of hooks shouldn't be construed as a negative thing. While there's no denying that you could sing to the acoustic group-vocal end of "Love____.", largely, the songs don't even have choruses. This creates plenty of room for Joe Boynton, Joe Lacy and Tim Landers to explore their Taking Back Sunday-esque vocal interplay, with Lacy and Landers in particular possessing gruff yells ala Polar Bear Club. But, it also means you can expect the lyrics to be personally-revealing, rather than forced to fit the meter of choruses. As far as pop-punk goes, Boynton's lyrics are among the best: "Even sadder then writing this all down to a ghost / that doesn't care enough to haunt you, to want you / It just keeps you around... You can paint a wall but you can't cover up the cracks / and things will never change / until you change the way you look at it.".

Courtesy of producer Jesse Cannon, the production is excellent. Sure, Transit's sound suited their more raw, older stuff, but Transit can't not sound raw, only now the likes of title-track "Keep This To Yourself" and the excellent "P.S." benefit from how clear and polished the instrumental side of the band is.

Quite simply, "Keep This To Yourself" is one of the best pop-punk releases of 2010. For all those doubters and elitists out there who have begun to doubt or become disillusioned with the genre, I implore you to listen to this. "I'm writing all down to let you know 'I gave you my very best'", and their best puts them among the best.

8

Download: P.S., Love____., Hope This Finds You Well
For The Fans of: Man Overboard, Title Fight, Daylight, Taking Back Sunday's "Tell All Your Friends
Listen: Myspace

Release Date 17.08.2010
Run For Cover Records

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