“small_brown_bike”
Small Brown Bike
Collection
Salinger Press
Small Brown Bike
Our Own Wars
No Idea
I’m floored. I liked the first two seven inches by this band a lot, but Our Own Wars completely blows away their previous recordings. Small Brown Bike perfectly marry gritty melody, aggression, and emotion in a post-punk context. Power and energy flows, melodies hook you in and soar, emotion bleeding through it all, with great lyrics.
There have been a lot of comparisons to Jawbreaker and Hot Water Music written about Small Brown Bike, and while I can hear them as influences (especially on some of SBB’s earlier stuff) I wouldn’t say that they sound much like either. They share similar characteristics and are in the same sort of vein, but what ends up coming out of the speakers is much different. I daresay just as good, but different.
The first two seven inches which clued me into this band are collected on Collection . It’s nice having both of them together in one place, easily accessible. There are five songs I don’t know on here as well – “Red Light” and four demo songs. Good songs in the same vein as the later ones, just rawer.
It’s on Our Own Wars that they truly shine the brightest, though. An amazing record.
No Idea Fanzines and Records, P.O. Box 14636, Gainesville, FL 32604
