For the past couple of months, there has been a lot of buzz fluttering around in the Transit camp. These Boston hometown heroes have been relentlessly hitting the road along with pouring their hearts out into new material for the release of their upcoming full-length, Young New England. Many eager fans have been consistently following Transit's progress on this release ever since the band announced that they were writing new material. With much excitement and positive hype revolving around their fans' expectations for the band after the incredible feedback from Listen And Forgive, the release of Young New England further proves to become one of the most anticipated releases of the spring without a doubt.
From start to end, Young New England is an album that is completely on a whole different level than their previous releases. While Listen And Forgive proved to be a phenomenal seasonal release, allowing fans and listeners alike to embrace an eternal sense of bliss during the fall, Transit picks up right back to wear they left off on L&F with Young New England cruising away into your hearts by possibly becoming your new favorite warm weather album.
Finally as more details of the release began to unfold over the past few months, fans got a first hand sneak peak of what to expect with the release of their first single, Nothing Lasts Forever. What grabbed my attention the most when I first listened to this track a while back was the delivery of Joe Boynton's vocal pattern as the song opens up with an explosive introduction that conveys many energetic parallels to L&F.
Cruising along through the first half of the album, not only have I declared the title-track of the album, Young New England, to be my next favorite late-night summer song; this is also a song that captures the true spirit of Boston. Deciphered in the opening verse of the song, "if you're too drunk to walk alone the streets of cobblestone/you know Boston never drinks alone", Young New England pays homage to the thriving spirit of their hometown, by conveying a youthful and heartfelt insight of growing up in one the most energetic cities in the US. This magnificent title-track definitely deserves to become Boston's newly-championed theme song.
To those who miss the older Transit sound from many well-loved releases like Stay Home and Keep This To Yourself, for example, after a few listens from singles like Young New England and Nothing Lasts Forever, you will be hooked instantly; potentially giving you flashbacks of getting instantly hooked on the single Long Lost Friends right around the time when L&F came out.
Even if Transit has branched off from their raw and emotionally-driven melodic hardcore-influenced pop punk sound over the years, there is no doubt that the band has crafted a blissful and innovative song to call their own. There are many deep cuts in this album that particularly reflect specific influences that have inspired their progression as musicians. Relaxing songs like Hazy for example, musically appear to pay homage to iconic indie-rock forefathers like American Football and Death Cab For Cutie. While particularly, more upbeat tracks on Young New Englan (like So Long, So Long, Weathered Souls, Bright Lights, Dark Shadows and Lake Q) compliment distinct parallels to the sound of Listen And Forgive with potential influence from early and mid-2000s emo heroes like Further Seems Forever and The Early November. Even in prior releases, you could hear these particular influences inspire innovative breakthroughs during each transitional phase that Transit has experienced as musicians over time.
In its entirety, Transit's Young New England provides fans with a blissful sensation of youthfulness with each listen. This is a release that is on completely on a whole different level by capturing the essence of each transitional phase from the band and then branches off into something that is unique and powerful on its own. Reflecting back on the ideals of: living in the moment and holding onto the memories of your youth, Transit's Young New England is an incredibly promising album to listen to as we bloom from the opening weeks of spring, leading into the eager and hopeful months of summer. Listening to Young New England on constant repeat, will make you feel as if not a single minute has ever passed by on the ticking clocks of your youth.
Tracklist:
1. Nothing Lasts Forever
2. Second To Right
3. Young New England
4. Sleep
5. So Long, So Long
6. Weathered Souls
7. Hang It Up
8. Don’t Do, Don’t Stray
9. Thanks For Nothing
10. Summer Me
11. Hazy
12. Bright Lights, Dark Shadows
13. Lake Q
Rating:
Written by Ryan McGrath
