Official press release:
Bayside, the NYC-based rock band whose most recent album, Cult, debuted in the Top 25 on Billboard’s Album Chart, return with their seventh album, Vacancy, on Aug. 19 via Hopeless Records. Pre-orders are available now via MerchNOW. A North American tour kicks off on Aug. 11.
Where Bayside’s last album, Cult, dealt with singer/guitar player Anthony Raneri’s move to Nashville, his recent marriage and impending fatherhood, Vacancy tells the story of the dissolution of his marriage and finding himself alone in the city that was meant to be his new home. Raneri explains:
“The hotel on the album cover reflects the feelings I had while working on Vacancy. Writing this album, I felt as if everything was uncertain, I could move back to New York, buy a house in Nashville… I just didn’t know what was going to come next. I felt very isolated and as if everything in my life was temporary at that moment.”
In the two plus years since the release of Cult, not only had Raneri moved to Nashville, but guitar player Jack O’Shea also made his way to Music City, while drummer Chris Guglielmo moved to Orange County, Calif. leaving only bass player Nick Ghanbarian in New York. For the first time in the band’s sixteen-year history, they worked on music remotely, trading demos via email. A difficult process, the geographical hurdles forced them to take a new approaching to writing and recording, with the band electing to live together during their five-week Nashville recording session. Raneri said:
“It definitely changed the process. Ironically, even with the new constraints, we created our most complex and highly ambitious record.”
Tim O’Heir (Sebadoh, Say Anything) handled production for Vacancy, a perfect match for the band whose affinity for musicals has been an influence on their often-idiosyncratic song structure. Raneri adds:
“There’s always been a tinge of show tunes in Bayside’s music. Our music has always been whimsical, it’s never followed the verse, chorus, bridge format – we often have several key changes and odd time structures; lots of things you only really hear in musicals and where in the past we’d have a pop guy help us reel that in, Tim, who was nominated for a TONY for Hedwig and the Angry Inch, was someone who got the weird shit we do and has an affinity for the dramatic, whimsical side of the band.”
Vacancy track listing:
1. “Two Letters”
2. “I’ve Been Dead All Day”
3. “Enemy Lines”
4. “Not Fair”
5. “Pretty Vacant”
6. “Rumspringa (Heartbreak Road)”
7. “Mary”
8. “Maybe, Tennessee”
9. “The Ghost”
10. “It Doesn’t Make It True”
11. “It’s Not As Depressing As It Sounds”
Bayside embark on a North American tour surrounding the album’s release, with the dates launching on Aug. 11 in Ft. Lauderdale. The Menzingers and Sorority Noise support. Raneri says of the tour:
“We’re as always, going to be mixing in a good amount of the new record with all the old songs that everyone loves to sing a long to.”
Tickets are available now via www.baysidebayside.com.
Tour dates:
8/11 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL | Revolution
8/12 – Orlando, FL | Hard Rock Live
8/13 – Atlanta, GA | Wrecking Ball Festival
8/14 – Charlotte, NC | Amos Southend
8/16 – Norfolk, VA | NorVa
8/17 – Baltimore, MD | Rams Head
8/18 – Philadelphia, PA | Electric Factory
8/19 – New York, NY | PlayStation Theater
8/20 – Sayreville, NJ | Starland Ballroom
8/21 – Boston, MA | House of Blues
8/23 – Pittsburgh, PA | Altar Bar
8/24 – Cleveland, OH | Agora
8/25 – Toronto, ON | Opera House
8/26 – Detroit, MI | The Majestic
8/27 – Chicago, IL | Beer Festival
8/28 – Minneapolis, MN | Mill City Nights
8/30 – Denver, CO | Ogden Theatre
8/31 – Salt Lake City, UT | The Complex
9/02 – Seattle, WA | The Showbox
9/03 – Portland, OR | Hawthorne Theatre
9/04 – San Francisco, CA | Regency
9/06 – Santa Ana, CA | The Observatory
9/07 – Los Angeles, CA | Regent Theater
9/08 – San Diego, CA | The Observatory North Park
9/09 – Las Vegas, NV | Brooklyn Bowl
9/10 – Phoenix, AZ | The Pressroom
9/11 – Albuquerque, NM | The Sunshine Theater
9/13 – San Antonio, TX | Alamo City Music Hall
9/14 – Houston, TX | House of Blues
9/15 – Dallas, TX | Gas Monkey Live
9/16 – Lawrence, KS | Granada Theater
9/17 – St. Louis, MO | The Ready Room
9/18 – Nashville, TN | Exit/In
