Here’s a solid little number from Boston (Massachusetts not Lincolnshire) five-piece Transit that proves not everything that comes out of the scholarly New England city derives from Celtic street punk. In fact, Boston is quite the bustling hub of underground punk music. ‘Stay Home’, release number three, is a sharp, succinct foray into melodic post-hardcore that manages to sound fresh and stirring.
Not as aggressively fearsome as Alexisonfire but not quite as poppy as Taking Back Sunday, the band makes a good bedfellow for the likes of Set Your Goals. Driving guitars and big drums are fused with melodic vocals, backing vocals that are delivered all shouty and gang-like, and a healthy dose of impassioned energy. It’s two parts harmonious, one part aggressive. All of this makes it an instantly accessible record. And on top of this there’s not a single pretentiously long song title anywhere in sight. Up the one word song titles!
The crux of the six tracks on ‘Stay Home’ fit the template above but closing song ‘Outbound’ throws a little something different in the mix. It’s an acoustic number that escalates into a big crescendo of guitars. At over four minutes long (the rest of the songs sit neatly at about the two minute marker) it’s almost a song in two parts, and whilst the vocals are not the strongest on the second half it proves to be a nice change of pace, not to mention an setlist encore song in the waiting.
Overall it’s a decent quick release of heartfelt songs that suggests the back catalogue is well worth checking out. With no physical UK release grab it on iTunes, unless of course you happen to be passing Newbury Comics in Boston (a recommended stop-off point for sure). I’ll leave you with the band’s own gloriously humorous description of what it sounds like: “When you actually get a hole in one at the last hole of mini golf.” That’s just about exactly right. Well, if you replace ‘mini’ for ‘crazy’, but still.
Alex