The Bay State – The Haunted EP – Mini Review

Release Date: December 11th, 2009
Record Label: None
Genre: Pop Rock

A few years back I remember running into a few sample tracks from Jersey locals, The Bay State. At about the same time, Paramore was striking it famous with the pop rock crowd. Well, this female-led four-piece is cut from the same cloth. Susanne Gerry sings with a spunky innocence about the trials and tribulations of relationships, girls & boys, etc. Plain, but always welcome. Their recent EP “The Haunted” also features Evan James‘ fairly soft voice in the EP’s title track, but they sound so similar you won’t even notice the switch. A nice touch was making each track sound completely different. “Liars” is a by-the-numbers pop rock track mirroring Paramore, while “The Haunted” is an acoustic driven rock song  lead by Evan, swooning 15 year old girls by spouting bittersweet lines such as “I’ve been staying up half  the night, with my face in the glowing light, just wondering what i could type, to bring you back to me tonight” (sappy right?), and finally “Hey Hey Glamour Kills,” which is either a desperate cry for some endorsements, or a beat and synth heavy pop song featuring lyrics filled with clothing line ‘tude. The EP is short and depending how you feel about pop and girl vocalists, you may either love it or hate it. The Bay State aren’t a cookie cutter band, which allows me to enjoy their efforts and occasional winter EPs, but if you listen to certain acts already (Paramore, 3Oh3!, Katy Perry), then this isn’t anything new.  ~Staff
Score: 3/5