Recorded over the span of five days at Candle Recording with Josh Korody (FUCKED UP, DILLY DALLY, GREYS) last summer, Lean Into It, the third EP from Ontario gritty rock / indie punk band BIKE THIEFS is a social record, meant as a rallying cry for empathy and understanding. With a punchier delivery of looose guitars locked inside pummeling rhythm section, combined with conversational but sincere lyrical content, the new offering seems to be a little less grating than the band’s previous work. The title is taken from a phrase commonly used by comedian Pete Holmes, usually in reference to accepting one’s shortcomings or idiosyncrasies. Lean Into It is a social record, meant as a rallying cry for empathy and understanding, and we’re thrilled to give you the first listen of its closing track “Was I At Least Funny”, brimming with infectious, nervous energy, as well as dizzying and unexpected noises. Read the official word from the band and listen below!
“Was I At Least Funny” is about struggling for control over relationships and growth. I lost someone close to me and i felt like I was sequestered to a different planet. The reality is that people either die, or move on, or grow up, buy houses, have kids and go to bed before Jimmy Kimmel. By the end of the song I’m rattling off any excuse to keep whoever I can in the room – “let’s buy a kid or a couch, or a house, or something you can’t abandon.” it sounds manic and desperate, but once you hear yourself say or think something like that, it sounds silly, and it’s freeing.
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Bike Thiefs, comprised of bassist Kris Pandierada, drummer Andrew Fasken and Guitarist/Vocalist Marko Woloshyn, absorb music as quickly as one would expect from a group of millennial audiophiles. Pandeirada cut his teeth writing hip hop beats in his basement, Woloshyn holed up in his room wringing the ink out of Elliott Smith sheet music and Fasken immersed himself in the world of 2000s post-punk, booking shows and playing in a handful of hardcore bands.
When BikeThiefs were out a drummer, Pandeirada met Fasken at a wedding, where he conducted a five-hour job interview.
Within a few months, Fasken was touring Canada with the band behind their last EP These Things Happen All The Time. The group quickly began writing and road testing the skeleton of their new EP, Lean Into It.
Lean Into It is communal music. The songs are abrasive, chatty and conversational. The white-knuckle rhythm section leaves enough room for Woloshyn’s exuberant vocals and guitar feedback without letting him trip over his own jokes. On Lean Into It, the band has shied away from throat tearing vocals and hair flipping riffs in exchange for matter of fact speak-sing vocals and hypnotic drums, making for a band that would much rather be sincere than intense.
Check out the previously released song “Destination Wedding” and see what the band had to say about the rest of the tracks from the record:
The first single, “Destination Wedding,” is a semi-fictionalized retelling of comedy of errors at a dinner party; “Cosmetic Damages” is about a major asshole getting into a minor car accident and “Carson” about agoraphobia.
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Catch the band live on September 29th at New Grey Goat Pub & Grill 7th in Nemarket, Ontario with garage punks HYSTERICS, rock band OUTPUT and alt grunge rockers SEDGE. The new record release show will take place September 22, 2017 at Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, Ontario, alongside with INDIAN HANDCRAFTS, LUSH BUFFALO, OVERMAN, and FADE AWAAYS.
— RECOMMENDED BY IDIOTEQ —
