Cover songs sure do take a beating nowadays. What was once a way for a band to pay homage to the artists that influenced them has become, more or less, a cash-grabbing, attention-begging method for the flavors of the month in metalcore to hack their way through the most overplayed Top 40 radio hits. While Bayside are a little guilty of that (their cover of Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls" on Punk Goes Pop 2), they've certainly built up a reputation with their cult-like following as a band who makes music for no other reason than to bring people together, and with what will hopefully be the first in a series of many more covers EPs, Bayside are giving their fans an intimate look at what music inspired them to be a band.
Covers-Volume 1 begins with a cover of The Ronnettes' "Be My Baby," which is an interesting selection for the band, considering the original version of the song was done with female vocals. However, Anthony Raneri shows off his ever-improving vocal range on the track, and each chorus is more infectious than the one that came before it. Elvis Costello's "Oliver's Army" is up next, and if you didn't know any better, the song would fit right in between "Howard" and "Have Fun Storming the Castle" on the band's 2008 effort Shudder. The band go even further from the path they've beaten down for themselves on their cover of Del Shannon's "Runaway," featuring Raneri's most challenging vocal performance, and the vocal melodies are something new to the fray for the entire band as well. The band finally take a swing at another rock band's track by covering Van Morrison's "Wild Night," and the vocal melodies are at their best on the track. Jack O' Shea really gets a chance to shine on "Wild Night," as his guitar work is once again top-notch throughout the EP.
Covers- Volume One culminates with one of the best covers you'll ever hear, as Bayside tackle Billy Joel's "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)." While there's a little bit of unintentional humor in the selection of the track (Anthony Raneri singing "Anthony's Song"?), there's nothing funny about this hard-rocking cover that could have easily been a b-side or bonus track for Bayside's landmark 2011 effort Killing Time. Easily the artist most hallowed that Bayside chose to cover, the band does Joel some serious justice, adapting the track into their own while still paying homage to how good the original is.
Covers have taken a beating recently, thanks to the current and past Fearless and Rise Records rosters, but if there was any band that could release a series of covers that doesn't come off as a gimmick, it's Bayside, and with Covers- Volume One, they do just that. Each track sounds like the band wrote them, and while they chose to cover songs that many of their younger fans won't recognize, you don't need to listen to the originals to be able to enjoy Bayside's unique takes on each one.
The Bottom Line: It's Bayside. If you've liked something from them before, this set of five covers will not disappoint. So, what are you waiting for?
Recommended if you rock: New Found Glory's From the Screen to Your Stereo, Tokyo Police Club's Ten Days. Ten Covers. Ten Years., and, uh, Bayside.
No comments:
Post a Comment