Ten Speed Bicycle - Demo '10 - Download (2010)

Labels: self released
Review by: Andy Malcolm

I came across this band after very briefly meeting their member Kai who was filling in for End of a Year on their recent UK tour. Now there’s a gig! Wonder if they’ll put “ex-End of a Year” on flyers? Anyways, these are two raw and youthful tracks in the vein of energetic post-hardcore, taking a bit of something like Latterman and throwing in some emo to try and balance things out, all frantic and unafraid of making a mess, like that Monument 7″ was. The recording is muffled but gives you a flavour of what the band is about. The vocals are gruff and shouty, which is the trend in this style. Not exactly my thing, but it fits in with the sound they are going for. “Mike is a Bastard” (poor Mike) rages along until the last minute or so, when everything drops out into a pretty finale. “The One Where Ross is Fine” flies off the handle initially, but drops out nicely twice, especially at the end when it falls into spoken vocals. I think the slow parts in both songs work well for me, and maybe that’s something they’ll expand upon in future. Either way, this is a good introduction and shows that the band is clearly excited to be doing this shit. Let’s see what happens next.

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