Review Summary: "When will you come back home to where your heart is?"
Writing music is easy. Writing “good” music is a completely different story. Good music takes a lot of talent and creativity. However, talent alone will not cut it. A very important detail that should not be overlooked is the putting of your heart and soul into the music. Bicycle Sunday bare both talent and heart in their first release, “Nothing’s All Right.”
Just from listening to a song or two, it is obvious that Bicycle Sunday takes influence from bands such as Mineral and American Football. Like these bands, they imitate likable factors within their music, but what is eminent about this EP is how the band is able to take their influences and mend them with their own style. A couple ways they make this evident is the way the bass stands out with bass lines that do more than just follow the guitars and using group vocals at times for better effect. While not creating the most original music Bicycle Sunday makes up for it with plenty of likable traits.
All throughout the EP there is a great display of guitar harmonies. One guitar is usually strumming chords while the other is playing a more complex picking pattern. The intro to “Irish Architecture” is probably one of the most notable moments of the EP instrumentally. The song starts with a guitar riff consisting of hammer-ons and pull-offs while the drums keep a steady tempo on the hi-hat and occasionally hitting a cymbal and tom. The second guitar soon joins them with a fitting harmony and finally, the bass. The song later displays a powerful part when the instruments casually drop out while the singer sings a line by himself that leads into crushing guitars with distortion along with the other instruments.
The singer’s voice is very well fitting for the music. He proves on different occasions all through the EP how effective his vocal style that is a mix between singing and a more aggressive yell can be. Not only do the vocals blend well with the music, but they also are backed with meaningful lyrics. Though the lyrics are simple and don’t use much imagery they prove to be honest and from the heart. A great example of this is exhibited in “Irish Architecture.”
"I don’t know what to say anymore, I’m not as strong as most would think I am
I’m not as strong as you were all your years, a pillar to rest this house on.
And even after their hearts gave out you still held your head up high.
You’re much stronger than I.
I will never forget you or your heart."
One of the banal aspects about the EP is how the guitars usually tend to strum various power chords throughout a chorus. Another weak point is that there is not much variation and each track keeps a moderately slow tempo for the entire song. These two things can make it hard to tell the songs apart at times. Fortunately, Bicycle Sunday doesn’t always follow the typical “verse chorus verse” song formula thus making these negative elements harder to notice. This is well demonstrated in the first track.
Don’t let the uninteresting album art fool you, this is an exceptional indie/emo EP that showcases a few things that Bicycle Sunday is capable of. While this would best please anyone yearning for a Mineral reunion, it still has a charming affection that can reach out to almost anyone interested in the genre.
