You ever get an album because someone in the band was in a band that you really liked, a band that might have "enhanced your life" throughout the years? Sometimes those bands get bigger than the band it stemmed from, like the Mars Volta. But sometimes that doesn’t happen, and after you actually listen to the record, it makes you sad that it didn't happen.
Well, that's what I felt after listening to the band Big Rig, A.K.A. "The band Jesse Michaels from Operation Ivy was in before he formed Common Rider.” The band obviously had a lot of potential coming from this record, but they still are only noticed as post-Op Ivy band.
The Expansive Heart Ep is a fast Punk record with killer lyrics, and a musical style obviously rooted in Hardcore but with a Pop-Punk sensibility that gives the band a style very different from the Pop-Punk that was coming out of California at the time. The album opens with "Expansive Heart", a dark song with one of the best bass lines I've ever heard. The guitars don't seem to have a lead or rhythm, because they both do a little solo by the middle of the song. The double guitar system works for this song: they don't come out very heavy but they still work great together. The lyrics are thoughtful, almost arty with a dry, punk backbone, that almost goes straight into the next track, "Will Alone". "Will Alone" probably has the most arty lyrics on the record, and the best bridge on the whole record. The whole band shouts behind Jesse in a gang like manner reminding me of a sweaty pit in someones basement. The bass carrys out the guitars in a rhythmic manner that works nicely withthe simple drums. However we are quickly underwhelmed by the next track, New Fist. Despite, a great intro, the lyrics in the verse definitely don't live up to previous tracks. It resembles what the Punk scene was becoming: generic and polarizing to what 80's Hardcore was supposed to be about. At this point the songs are starting to sound the same, and you're starting to think about just turning it off. But the next track, Persistence, makes up for New Fist, with much more emotional vocals and vocals by bassist Jeremy Goody. The song is not as good as Expansive Heart, but it makes up for New Fist, with better lyrics, and a better emotional standpoint. It’s a very good way to end the record, leaving you inspired.
All in all, Expansive Heart proves Big Rig a worthy band, that should be noticed for their unique take on California Punk. It is easy, however, to see how Big Rig don't get noticed for their work. The band broke up in a matter of months after the record was released, leaving the Big Rig story often forgotten.
