Bayside

Bayside emerged as a seasoned New York punk band whose sound fused sharp melodies with emo sensibilities. Mainstream recognition arrived in the mid-2000s through multiple releases on the Victory label. A fatal 2005 van crash failed to halt their momentum, as the band rebounded with the 2007 album The Walking Wounded and then delivered a run of stronger-charting efforts such as 2011’s Killing Time and 2014’s Cult, whose Billboard 200 peak of number 24 remains their best showing. Over the years the Queens-based quartet broadened its palette via acoustic projects, a live record, and an assortment of covers. Following the 2019 Interrobang LP, Bayside marked two decades with another acoustic album and, in the ensuing years, two electric EPs of fresh songs before returning in 2024 with their ninth studio set, There Are Worse Things Than Being Alive, issued on Hopeless Records.

Anthony Raneri launched Bayside in late 2000, drawing the name from his Queens neighborhood, and assembled the early lineup of bassist Andrew Elderbaum and drummer Jason Enz. That trio issued the 2001 EP Long Stories Short and cultivated an audience via relentless touring and festival slots. A 2003 split EP with Name Taken preceded a deal with Victory Records, which released the debut full-length Sirens and Condolences in January 2004. For the follow-up the band bypassed typical punk producers and instead enlisted Shep Goodman and Kenny Gioia, whose prior credits included Lee Ann Womack and Mandy Moore; the strategy succeeded when the self-titled Bayside album reached the Billboard 200 in 2005. On October 31 of that year, after a Colorado gig, the group’s van struck ice in Cheyenne, Wyoming, claiming the life of drummer John Holohan and severely injuring bassist Nick Ghanbarian, while Raneri and lead guitarist Jack O’Shea escaped with minor injuries.

Drummer Chris Guglielmo joined in time for the aptly named 2007 album The Walking Wounded, locking in the lineup that would underpin the band’s strongest commercial stretch. Shudder followed in 2008, landing at number 54 on the Billboard 200 and supported by the live set Live @ the Bayside Social Club. The next album, Killing Time, was tracked in Woodstock, New York, with British producer Gil Norton, whose résumé featured Pixies, Echo & the Bunnymen, and Foo Fighters; Wind-up Records released it in 2011 to favorable reviews and improved sales. A multi-band fall tour with Saves the Day, I Am the Avalanche, and Transit prompted Bayside to contribute a track to a shared four-way single. Raneri’s first solo EP appeared in 2012, after which the group issued the eclectic Covers, Vol. 1, interpreting songs by Elvis Costello, Billy Joel, and Van Morrison.

Signing with Hopeless, Bayside reunited with Shep Goodman, who co-produced 2014’s Cult alongside Aaron Accetta; the album climbed to number 24, their highest position, and launched a busy touring year alongside Alkaline Trio, Seaway, and Senses Fail. After 2016’s Vacancy the band returned to unplugged territory with Acoustic, Vol. 2. Interrobang arrived in October 2019 together with news of an online Battle of the Bands contest offering local acts the chance to open for them. COVID-19 forced cancellation of a planned 20th-anniversary tour in 2020, though Acoustic, Vol. 3 still surfaced that December. The Red EP followed in 2022 and The Blue EP in 2023, with several of those songs later appearing on the ninth album There Are Worse Things Than Being Alive, whose May 2024 release was preceded by the singles “Miracle” and “The Devils.”