Album Review: Transit - 'Keep This To Yourself'

To all the taken ladies out there - be careful who’s heart you decide to break. Think twice before you pull the plug, take a stroke with that handsome other out there or run off with that ‘best friend’, because your repercussions could be cemented into a pop/punk record for the world alike to grieve until the end of time. Maybe Massachusetts ambassadors, Transit, just set out to share their love-sunk letters with us in the form of debut full-length, 'Keep This To Yourself', or maybe this is their way of cathartic release, but for the charts, what they’ve crafted is one of the most refreshing pop/punk records of this year. Long-awaited since the release of EP 'Stay Home', two years proved long enough for this bunch to document fourteen heart-broken letters of reflection and reminiscence of relationships once lost with choruses, riffs and dual-guitar action to melt both your soul, and your ears.

Don’t let ‘Dear Anyone’ misconceive you - this album is personal. And from this opening track what is established is an album that’s been extremely well thought out and approached by musicians that know this genre. Only very seldom, if ever are there any parts in this CD where both guitars are playing the same melody and this is the mega weapon behind this release’s epic nature. The re-record of ‘Please, Head North’ (miles ahead of its first version in the Man Overboard Split) highlights this band’s melodic and emotional-sounding capabilities in the string department, with others like ‘Hope This Finds You Well’ showcasing the unique quality this band holds to their name - an ability to be both passionate and catchy through a perfect balance of quirky to heartfelt riffs and chords.

There’s a certain stop/start within songs that characterises this record; building you up to powerful choruses that echo in your mind for hours after the end, and suddenly dying down to slower-paced sections which capture the essence of the adjective ‘sentimental’. The vocal interplay between guitarists Joe Lacy, Tim Landers and vocalist Joe Boynton creates a necessary balance between harsh and clean-sung vocals, illustrated in tracks such as ‘I Was Going To Cross This Out’. Jesse Cannon worked his magic consistently throughout this release; the production is of a quality that makes it hard to technically fault anything on this record. Compared to their two previous releases, everything on this release - from down-tempo acoustic guitar jams in ‘No Inbetween’ to the powerfully crashing cymbals in ‘PS’ - has been polished to an extremely high level that makes the musical talent that this band boasts really stand out.

However, for past fans of Transit’s raw, catchy nature, this release may be a stretch for your ears. It’s complicated. Between each track there is just so much going on, which sometimes loses the pure simplicity which characterised their earlier sound. There’s also a strange sense of completion by the end of instrumental, ‘Keep This To Yourself’ (four tracks from the end), which either leaves the last three songs feeling like bonus material or this album feeling very long. Whether its the faster punk of ‘Our New Year’ or the pop tendencies in ‘The Downsides’, this band has definitely progressed in its sound and the thirty-eight minutes of playtime has allowed them to demonstrate every aspect of this.

Transit’s latest release, ‘Keep This To Yourself’ explores the depth of their genre, revealing there is so much more to pop/punk than corny sing-alongs and three-chord songs. Whilst the complexity and polished nature of each track may lose the raw simplicity that captured early fans in previous releases, those not inclined to this direction will be made up for in a vast range of avid and mature listeners. It is undoubtable that the magic-makers of this band have redefined what it means to be a ‘pop/punk kid’ and elevated the status of this genre to far greater heights. For all those left in tears and smiles after listening to a purchased copy of this release, then “Maybe you got what you deserved”.

1. Dear Anyone

2. Please Head North

3. Footwork

4. Hope This Finds You Well

5. Return Address

6. A Living Diary

7. No Inbetween

8. I Was Going To Cross This Out

9. The Downsides

10. Photographic Memory

11. PS

12. Keep This To Yourself

13. Our New Year

14. Love____