The beginning of this song is just slap-you-in-the-face awesome. The freak out at 0:37 is super excellent, especially the spattering work on the ride--and then off into the second verse! The chorus is notable for its odd time. The procession of varied sections after the first chorus is bold but natural: 1:17, 1:38, 1:45. Subtle things like the two beat shift into the quiet breakdown at 2:21 make this song worth listening to extra closely. The build and drum fill into the rising double vocal assault at 3:04 is an excellent example of how this exceptionally loud band really knew how to make that mean something by getting quiet sometimes.
Finally, this song also proves conclusively what Paul Brannon has been known to suggest: "Rock Music Is All About The And of Four."
Bicycle Day - High Five For Sonic Force (MP3)
Track 4 from "Grade School Weaponry"
The opening riff to this one is one of my favorites (slightly botched but still rollicking in the live bootleg below). This is among the most propuslive tracks they've recorded--a pretty straight 4/4 feel; a sort of disco off-beat-open-hat on the breakdowns keeps it steady and relentless.
One of my favorite bits of this song is the fill into the breakdown at about 2:00, when the guitars all start feeding back like it's the end of the world. Somehow, the real treat of this moment is that the guitars don't make their entrance until the third measure of this breakdown. I don't know why that pleases me so, but it does. And then the guys just pound on their guitars and bend strings like it's their job. Note Elizabeth's back-and-forth bass part keeping things moving under all this guitar nonense on the first two measures of each of those solo phrases (2:08, 2:14, 2:20, 2:26). She receives bonus points for her her back-up vocals harmonizing with the riffs at the end of that section.
Bicycle Day - Mighty Mini Men (MP3)
Track 2 from "Grade School Weaponry"
BONUS LIVE VERSION!
Bicycle Day - Mighty Mini Men (Live) (MP3)
A bootleg from the Northern Star Online Website
SUPER BONUS MYSTERY RECORDING?
Bicycle Day - Mighty Mini Men (Alternate) (MP3)
Apparently an early alternate mix from the NIU CAB website
The contrast in sound between this track and the previous one characterizes the differences between the sounds of "Grade School Weaponry" (crowded, muffled, hard to listen to) and "The Mandarin" (perfection itself, by comparison). This, the second track on the latter album, is a good example of how this band could take everyday lyrical content, and imbue it with power by wedding it to incredibly dynamic music. These words don't even make an attempt to rhyme, and yet they thrill me.
My favorite section of this song is the breakdown at 1:29 with its lovely picked guitar part, the beautiful and brief vocal melody, culminating with the delightful measure-long triplet drum fill (rackrackrack snaresnaresnare floorfloorfloor rimrimrim) at 1:53, into some serious guitar action. What's that extra vocal part at 2:29 on the left side? It sounds a little like it could be a reprise of the breakdown melody "just lyin' here/the colors cover me/just lying in the leaves".
Bicycle Day - Fall Song (MP3)
Track 2 from "The Mandarin"
BONUS LIVE VERSION!
Bicycle Day - Fall Song (Live) (MP3)
A bootleg from the Northern Star Online website
Some killer, almost Pumpkin-esque riffs, grounded by a distorted bass. More than any of the others, this song really is all about guitars. The freak out that starts at 1:45 demonstrates what was a devastating three-guitar attack at this point in the group's history. I've rediscovered the fact that a man named Roy Finley played lead guitar in the group, possibly on both Grade School Weaponry and The Mandarin (the liner notes in the latter read, "All guitar solos played by the ghost of Roy Finley", suggesting that he'd played on the recording but left the group before it was released?). Roy Finley has a myspace page.
The rhythms in this song are really interesting, and the rhythmic structures are driven and shaped by the riff melodies, so you don't notice how odd they are. In their better moments, Millimeters Mercury got away with this. Speaking of mmHg: 2:12-2:33. Finally, Grade School Weaponry didn't come with lyrics, so I don't know what the words to this song are for sure, but they certainly sound compelling.
Bicycle Day - Capgun (MP3)
Track 5 from "Grade School Weaponry"
Right out of the gate, Isaac Hill's drums are awesome, and only get awesomer as this song progresses, so keep an ear on them. I love the non-transition to the refrain at 0:57. It's just like someone flipped a switch, and it's time for rock.Something else that strikes me about this song is the "End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"-esque vocal delivery that wraps up each verse. I like it; it sounds to me like both Jer and Andy are singing the verses together, and then Elizabeth comes in on the refrain and just knocks it out of the park. The unsung hero in this song amidst all the effects pedals is the bass guitar, which plays far fewer notes than its six-string counterparts, but chooses them well, creating a steady sense of melodic movement. The 6/8 outro riff is unexpected and folds over onto itself nicely. I find the knob twisting at the very end of the song endearing.
Bicycle Day - My Dreams Come True (MP3)
Track 10 from "The Mandarin"
A gentle, ambling feel. A listless musical gait that still bristles and busts at its sonic seams, rippling with muscle and textures. The back and forth dynamics in this song arrive like clockwork, but don't sound repetative or predictable, mostly due to the unexpected transitions and varied structures and arrangents they employ.
The sweet slide guitar opening sets the scene, then they soar into high gear for belted harmonies and bluesy riffs, and then back, and then forth, and back and forth for a suprisingly brief five minutes and change. This song is notable for another rare appearance by the piano, another mention of "stepping to the road" (see "Bring It Back To Life"), and some killer diminished chords (I think).
Bicycle Day - Roads & Radios (MP3)
Track 8 from "The Mandarin"
This song has one line. One. "You are my heart, as always. You'll always be my one". It's enough to break me right in half. Just listen to what they do with it. You never get tired of that line.
I'm most impressed by the guitar riffs at 1:28, and at 2:13 (especially where the latter part is played over the main melody just before this mark). I don't know how they manage the build at 1:42; I can't even tell for sure what instruments they're using there. Is that a piano? Notable contribution of a violin from band pal and later Andy and Elizabeth collaborator Nat Kundanis-Grow.
Bicycle Day - Recital (MP3)
Track 9 from "The Mandarin"
An early number from the first EP, a spare production compared to the layered barrages of sound they unleashed later. This one takes a few stanzas to get going, and Andy has a go as a bit of a double-tracked crooner. The chugging enters right on queue the second time around, and the tempo grinds and the guitar riffs are unleashed at 1:47. At the end of the second verse, Andy's yelping uncannily recalls a young Thom Yorke's circa "Anyone Can Play Guitar". The song really pays out at the bridge/outro, when all three singing members of the band belt out the catch phrase "Sing it, Sing it Loud!". My favorite moment in the song is at the very end, when the harmonies slide apart into a nice spread of interesting and unexpected intervals at 3:26 for the deneoument.
Bicycle Day - The Chorus Of Your Life (MP3)
Track 5 from "It's Time For A Rock Song EP"
Apparently, drummer Isaac Hill left the group after, "The Mandarin". John Ugolini once told me that he said he wanted to join a more socially conscious group. After his departure, the band's sound changed dramatically. The drive and punishing power of their rock, the precision and momentum, diffused almost completely. Instead, the band takes up an abstract, layered sound. Wild sound effects, copious amounts of reverb and distortion, and extended instrumental tangents still played prominently, but from then on, the music was less experimental rock than plainly experimental. The later recordings were challenging for me when I first heard them, but repeated listenings have helped me learn to love them just as much as the earlier stuff.
I should say that even though I sincerely miss Isaac's drum work on the later recordings, the drums on the tracks below add crucially to feels of the songs; the parts are appropriate and wonderfully strange (I assume they were played by Andy at this point, but I don't know).
This is a bizarre song, made especially interesting by Elizabeth's gutteral, affected delivery. My favorite part of the song--possibly my favorite Bicycle Day moment of all time--is her bellowing, "Oh!" at 1:31 on the way into the second refrain. This song is among the more conventional on Bicycle Day's final album, "Planet Xeno"; it definitely includes hot guitar riffs. Listen to the bridge of this song (1:49-2:08) to get an idea of what the rest of the record sounds like: Challenging.
I can't shake images of Super Mario Brothers World 1-2 when I listen to this song. Something to do with the bass figure, I think.
Bicycle Day - Revolving Thread (MP3)
Track 3 from "Planet Xeno" (CD Version)
The only track I've included from the three-song EP "Summers For Lovers", the first after the departure of their drummer. This is first Bicycle Day song chronologically in their discography to include a keyboard (some kind of table accordion in this case, perhaps? And a synth on the low end?), I believe.
The build into the first refrain beginning at 1:14 is mesmerizing. The shift in the registers of the melody and harmony at 1:43, seemingly mid-breath, is kind of stunning. I really enjoy the way the vocals refuse to resolve at 2:32, and the way Elizabeth jumps up in her register at the very end to bring the song to resolution.
Bicycle Day - You Worryin' About (MP3)
Track 1 from "Summers For Lovers"
This song is the most melodic entry on the band's noisy final album, "Planet Xeno", and it arrives late in the running order. In my opinion, it is the rare soundscape on the record that carries with it a tangible emotional weight: a heavy sweetness. The choice line in this regard, "I forget the days/We were close enough to say/Hey come over/Let's get out/And just run around/Until our hearts spill out". The subtle variations in the repetitions of the vocal melody lock it into your brain immediately. This is a truly elegant song, possibly even surpassing the other lovely ballads Elizabeth wrote for the group. It certainly stands as one of the most affecting tunes they ever recorded.
According to the cassette version of this album, this song is followed by a track called "Driving South". Having compared the cassette and CD version carefully, I believe the repeated guitar figure that slowly swells in the outro of this track constitutes "Driving South" in its entirety.
Bicycle Day - Honey I Miss You/Driving South (MP3)
Track 8 from "Planet Xeno" (CD Version)