Signs Of Lifelessness
WORDS: Yasmin Begum (Sprout Editorial Group)
The Bike Thieves (formerly The Bicycle Thieves) have come a long way since they were a two-piece, low-fi band making recordings in their bedrooms.
The Cardiff five-piece's first EP Signs Of Lifelessness is chock-a-block full of poppish indie folk goodness, despite there not actually being an acoustic guitar in sight.
Indie boy guitar breaks echo The Wombats, and vocal harmonies do indeed build up a textured atmosphere. Harmonicas, keyboards, backing vocals, brilliantly timed drums... the bass lines are strong but seem to be slightly drowned out by the layers of other music, especially on Paper Chains.
They possess a hell of a lot of energy, a lot more than can be said for their counterparts in the Cardiff scene at the moment. Second track, the blistering First Impressions opens with a catchy guitar riff. My god, these guys have changed!
Harmonies are laced in all songs a la the mighty Bob Dylan, while third song Canal reminds me of a mixture of early and later The Cure. Kinda like Three Imaginary Boys for the energy, but their self titled album for the music.
Highlight of this album definitely Drunken Nights In Aberdeen for its musicianship, but this bloke's faux-sounding deep 'mannish' voice has definitely started to grate on me. Then again, all my favourite singers couldn't 'sing'.
This EP would be impressive for any band, but for a band full of guys doing their A and AS Levels? The future's definitely bright; can't wait to see what else they've got in store.
Wholesome folk experimental indie goodness for the win.
1 Comment – Post a comment
Samz
Commented 38 months ago - 14th March 2009 - 12:26pm
Wooooaaa The Bicycle Thieves.