This album had me on the fence the first time through. The singer’s voice is nondescript; I couldn’t place where I thought I’d heard the sound before. I was confused. My confusion became clarity upon further listens. Prickly guitars, staccato minor chord picking, and a bomb ass rhythm section that bolts everything into place. “We Are the Collapse” has a keyboard part that kicks you in the back of the head when you least expect it. Dischord could have easily put this out in the early ‘90s. There’s a whole lot to like about this release, but the tension between the rhythm section and the guitars lifts Bayonets from the “above average” category to “highly listenable.”
–benke (Chain Letter)