Transit - Listen & Forgive
This week, Transit released Listen & Forgive, their third studio album in as many years.
It concludes a busy year for the pop-punk band, who've had a 9-track "EP" and two 7" releases come out this year.
It certainly doesn't feel like the band have been stretched, with Listen & Forgive feeling like a very solid and "complete" album.
Transit see more of an emo influence in their music, and although pop-punk is still a big part of their music, Bayside is an influence that comes through most.
Listen & Forgive moves at a slower pace to last year's Keep This To Yourself, as the band seem to embrace the emo influence slightly more.
They seem to be going for softer, more anthemic tracks rather than fast-paced, straight-up pop-punk tunes, and there's nothing really wrong with that.
Indeed, Transit do this so well, it's hard to imagine them taking any other direction with this record.
It's horribly cliched to say so, but Listen & Forgive feels like a very natural progression for the band to take, and in their hands songs like 'All Your Heart' become fantastic pop-punk/emo ballads.
Although pop-punk immediately conjures up thoughts of up-beat power-pop like Simple Plan, this is more from the You Me At Six, darker side of the genre.
Transit understand the joys of an infectious guitar hook and a big chorus, but attempt to give it a bit of emotional depth to avoid letting their music become repetitive.
It's tempting to point out that there are countless bands both in the States and the UK putting out this style of emo/pop-punk.
What's more important to note is that Transit do it brilliantly, and have used their talents to craft an extremely consistent and relatively diverse record.
'Skiping Stone' will please fans of Transit's more chilled out acoustic songs, and is a beautiful, simple track that breaks up the album well.
One interesting inclusion is a more polished version of '1978' (from this year's Something Left Behind release).
It loses a bit of its edge here, which may be the one criticism that can be aimed at Listen & Forgive.
This is a very strong album, and one that should cement them as a vital and interesting part of the contemporary pop-punk scene.
However, it needs more songs along the lines of 'Over Your Head' and 'Cutting Corners' which give it some much-needed pace and energy.
Female First - Alistair McGeorge