Transit - Listen & Forgive
Rating
RIYL
Tigers JawBalance and Composure
Lemuria
American Football
Release Date
10/04/2011
Label
Rise RecordsTracklist
1. You Can't Miss It (It's Everywhere)2. Long Lost Friends
3. Listen And Forgive
4. No Such Thing
5. Asleep At The Wheel
6. Cutting Corners
7. Skipping Stone
8. I Think I know You
9. Don't Make A Sound
10. 1978
11. Over Your Head
12. The Answer Comes In Time
Users Rating |
Your RatingCreate an account or log in to rate this album |
Recent Ratings |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
After listening, what exactly is it I’m supposed to forgive Transit for, other than a snarky remark about critics, of which I find myself categorically a member (and besides, critics are a rather nasty lot)? Making music my inner hardcore kid wants to decry as “too safe” and inner elitist wants to snub his nose at for having a Patrick Stump guest spot (and then I remember he popped up on Misery Signals’ Mirrors and I bite my tongue)? Having lyrics that can find themselves on the wrong side of pretense? While all of these points have a degree of validity, this is not to say that Listen & Forgive is the pretentious indie movie score I’m making it seem like. Call it throwing you off the scent, call it whatever, but despite these relative black marks, the record on the whole should be deemed a success.
I talked at length in my A Loss for Words review about the tangible maturity on their album, and I feel that many of my comments there can be applied to this other Boston pop-punk act; this latest installment of Transit, though, tends to keep more of an Algernon Cadwallader flavor imposed on the overall sound—with overall being the operative word, for as the work in its entirety goes, so too does your level of enjoyment. Listen & Forgive operates well as a full album, an art which pundits have been proclaiming dead for some time now, but the draw-back is that there aren’t many cuts you could single out as having a particular greatness. The inevitable exceptions center not so much on departures in style but rather where the songwriting perfects said style—“Long Lost Friends” and the title track in particular. The lyrics of the latter can be a bit overwrought, but the chorus excuses this, functioning as something like that memory-eraser-stick-thing from Men in Black.
I’ve been reading a fair amount of backlash against this album in forums and on message boards, and like A Loss for Words I think this may be coming from the move away from some of the juvenilia and into more adult conceits. While it may be difficult for some to accept the rapid changes Transit’s undergoing, those willing to continue to evolve with the band should find Listen & Forgive a warm, if not scintillating, effort.
--Jacob Oliver
Comments
Fishers, Indiana
Keep This to Yourself was stroking TBS a little too hard. This is the first Transit album that I can really enjoy 100%, and I actually like that you tapped American Football in the RIYLs. I can see that now that you mention it, and am not sure how I missed it initially.
Also, I've never listened to Mirrors all the way through, but now I'm going to have to.
Top Albums: 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 || Tumblr | Twitter
Minnesota
I wasn't very impressed with this album, but then again I've never thought the band was more than average. So, in Bill Lohr fashion.... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Find me EVERYWHERE:
Wales
The first half of Mirrors is 5-star material, the second is still really good but kind of levels off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLF9Cm4E15E
I GO TO WORK
Fishers, Indiana
Now, which half is Stump in?
Top Albums: 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 || Tumblr | Twitter
Reno, NV
Stumped?
Top Weekly Artists Last.fm
Illinois
i liked this record. never liked these guys but this record is pretty solid. not much that keeps you listening though because it is kind of boring instrumental.
last.fm/user/tragedyl0ve
twitter.com/1000cleverlines
1000cleverlines.tumblr.com