Bayside/The Menzingers/Sorority Noise

Since forming in Queens in 2000 when members responded to an ad for bands to submit songs for a tribute album to the seminal ska band Operation Ivy, Bayside has stayed true to an ethos that it developed during a time period when bands like Minor Threat/Fugazi and Bad Religion addressed political and social issues in their lyrics. The band gets particularly personal on its new album, Vacancy. On songs such as the poppy “I’ve Been Dead All Day,” singer Anthony Raneri adopts an operatic vocal style as he sings about his issues, and in “Enemy Lines,” a song with driving guitars and cooing backing vocals, he really wails “I am the last of my kind.” With their introspective and self-loathing lyrics, the songs sound recall the Smiths at their prime. (Jeff Niesel)