Transit reside from the fertile fields of Jersey and you can hear it in the band’s sound and obvious influences. Oh wait, scratch that, Transit actually hail from Boston. The band sure had me fooled for a second there. Echoing bands like Saves The Day and Fairweather, Transit play melodic hardcore/pop/punk with some healthy additions of gruff backing vocals that recall Polar Bear Club. Transit are pushing some solid buttons on their debut full-length, This Will Not Define Us.

The aforementioned youthfulness weighs as both a positive and a negative for the band on This Will Not Define Us. Ambition and exuberance are both honorable attributes of Transit even if they do get the band in trouble at certain points along the way. At 35+ minutes, This Will Not Define Us is a bit long-winded for this style. The slower paced tracks have a tendency to bog the album down while the band could certainly use more variation in the vocal department. When those gruff backing vocals do appear, it tends to give the album a swift kick in the rear. Transit certainly do knock out their fair share of winners though. Tracks like “Scrape And Crawl”, “Radio Flyer” and “Parking Lot Nights” are undeniable anthems practically begging for the listener to sing along.

Negatives aside, the potential of Transit is certainly dripping from all corners of This Will Not Define Us. It is one of those debut records that I can certainly imagine looking back on and saying to myself, “Yeah, you could tell these boys were onto something.” If Transit can continue to refine their songwriting, no doubt the band will be able to leave a much longer lasting impression next time around.

Genre: Punk/Pop/Rock

RIYL: Polar Bear Club, Saves The Day, Fairweather

Label: Barrett

Scrape And Claw

08%20Scrape%20And%20Claw.mp3

www.myspace.com/transitma