Tonight at 6:00 p.m., punk rockers Bayside are set to perform at the Blue Moose Tap House alongside Minnesota’s Motion City Soundtrack. What’s Eating Gilbert and State Champs will kick things off with a couple sets of their own, which means that even for the $20 entry fee, you’re still getting pretty damn good bang for your buck.
Bayside initially signed to the pop and punk-centric Victory Records in 2003, though they’ve spent the last few years at Wind-Up where they released their most recent album, Killing Time, in 2011. The group recruited famed producer Gil Martin for this most recent release — a name that might ring a bell if you paid close attention to Surfer Blood’s brief visit to Gabe’s last week. In addition to working with groups like Surfer Blood and Bayside, Martin has worked in the past with Echo and the Bunnymen, The Pixies and countless other critically acclaimed groups throughout the U.S. His blessing is a good thing!
Bayside embrace the airy sort of punk that reigned throughout much of the ’00s as one of pop music’s more popular subgenres. Their music is accessible, yet isn’t bereft of technical skill — a problem that plagues many groups that otherwise thrived within the pop punk scenes of years past. And although their scene has waned in recent years (as indicated by a stunning lack of ‘scene hair’ and lip rings around Iowa City these days), it’s refreshing to see a band that’s willing and eager to break out some intelligent writing and a few guitar flourishes amid the otherwise straightforward pounding of power chords. Nevertheless, Bayside’s music is built to be catchy, and catchy it is.
Joining Bayside are heavy hitters Motion City Soundtrack, who are coming off the 2012 release of Go. The group hasn’t quit matched the smash hits offered up in 2005’s Commit This To Memory, but nevertheless, it’s Motion City Soundtrack! These are the dudes when it comes to catchy pop punk songs, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t listen to “Everything is Alright” every day for months on end. Their more recent work is a bit softer in places in terms of instrumentation, though Justin Pierre’s signature voice is still the lead hook for this group (and rightfully so).
Doors for this show open at 5:00 p.m. with tickets running for $20. For more information, check out Blue Moose’s event page.
