Boston rock outfit Transit has stirred up a unique recipe for success, packing one album after the other with fresh ideas. On their new album Joyride (Rise Records), the band’s music and lyrics are complemented by soaring choruses and thoughtful one-liners.
“Life is too short to stick to the same formula,” says vocalist Joe Boynton, “The albums we write are our paths to self-discovery; every album ends up pretty unique from the last because we all work very openly and honestly as a group. Our only goal as a band is to create an honest interpretation of who we are during the writing and recording process; when we accomplish that, every insecurity and worry in our lives seem to fall away.”
Joyride embodies relatable lyricism, a strong trait of the band carried out consistently throughout their career. This time around, Transit sheds light on personal struggles that are strewn throughout each track. The Boston-bred group’s newest effort meanders through the heartbreak, sorrow, and all-too-familiar qualms of life’s uncertainties.
Joe B. addressed the theme of Joyride, mentioning that it is “about searching for a balance between the darkness and the light.”
Composed of Joe Boynton (vocals), Torre Cioffi (guitar/vocals), P.J. Jefferson (bass) and Daniel Frazier (drums), Transit formed in 2006 and started out as a pop punk act. Their breakthrough record, Listen And Forgive (2011), marked the departure from their pop punk roots and lead to a more alternative rock sound.
For the first time since, Transit return to Europe for a run of co-headliner shows with Such Gold.
Just two years ago, Rochester, New York-based hardcore punk band Such Gold were hitting a huge milestone in their nascent career—the release of their first full-length, Misadventures, after a series of EPs and split releases. At that point, the band had already encountered numerous setbacks that would’ve crushed a lesser band, from lineup changes to hospitalizations. But with Misadventures finally out, it seemed like things were turning around. Cue another series of setbacks: Longtime guitarist/vocalist Skylar Sarkis left the band on the eve of the band’s tour with A Wilhelm Scream, leaving Such Gold to adapt or perish.
So learn them he did, and from June 2013 on, Such Gold have functioned as a four-piece unit with Kotin joining founding member Nate Derby on guitar. When drummer and fellow founding member Devan Bentley left the band earlier this year, Kotin, Derby and bassist/vocalist Jon Markson weren’t phased, immediately recruiting Matt Covey, whose resume includes a five-year stint with metalcore innovators Shai Hulud. “He’s an incredible musician,” Kotin says of Covey. “He understands a lot about music that I don’t, which is very cool.”
It was with this lineup that the band entered the Blasting Room in Ft. Collins, Colorado, with legendary producer Bill Stevenson to make The New Sidewalk. Unsurprisingly, it’s a huge leap forward for the band creatively, with the band pushing themselves further and further away from the pop-punk scene they came up in and instead focusing on being an innovative, forward-thinking hardcore punk band even if it brings some tension to the listener —something Stevenson’s old band, Black Flag, knew a thing about, too. Needless to say, the band and producer got along smashingly.
“If we thought we were writing worse music than our last record, we would just give up,” Kotin admits. “If people have faith in us as musicians and writers, I think they will enjoy it.”
