No Frills Reviews

A debut which delivers an action-packed and surprisingly versatile blend of gritty garage punk

Motorbike are a five-piece formed of members from various Cincinnati bands (Pale Angels, Tweens, The Serfs, Crime of Passing, Vacation, The Drin). I hesitate to say supergroup as I hadn’t heard of these bands before now; so let’s say underground supergroup, that sounds cooler anyway. Either way, this is clearly a bunch of musicians who know what they’re doing. Considering this is their first album and was apparently recorded within their first few rehearsals together, it‘s remarkably fully formed while still retaining an undoubted edge; something like refined rawness.

There’s an air of familiarity to a lot of this; a primarily charging punk sound, with different flavours from rock history incorporated along the way. The array of influences seem to seep in seamlessly, which means it never feels like imitation. There’s nothing new here, but it’s executed so well that it doesn’t matter. Plus, it consistently fucking rocks which helps.

There’s a relatively easy-going intro to the album via the title track (relatively being the key word there), as a big Skynyrd-style southern rock riff gives way to a gothy post-punk vibe. The pace picks up over the next couple of tracks, with the driving riffs of Throttle being reminiscent of The Stooges’ T.V. Eye. I’m pretty sure that Off I Sped sounds like hundreds of punk songs that have came before, but so what because it still sounds great. Life Is Hell almost has a Tom Petty-ish heartland rock sound, albeit with a rugged filter over the top. And there’s a touch of Buzzcocks on the intro to Spring Grove. While you can pick up hints of classics throughout, it all feels cohesive and consistently sounds like Motorbike; and Motorbike sound like they don’t care who you might compare them to.

Lyrically, there doesn’t appear to be any great depth here. I’m pretty sure about half of the songs are just about riding motorbikes with titles like Throttle, Potential to Ride and, aptly, Motorbike. But lyrics isn’t really what this album is about. As I said, it consistently fucking rocks, which means you’re never really given any time to dwell on any deeper meanings. I have to shout out one line in particular – “I’m in an air fryer” – I can’t decide whether that’s great or terrible. Maybe they’re ahead of their time; give it a few years and that’ll probably seem as natural a metaphor as the “pressure cooker” line it sits alongside. The most overtly meaningful track is closer, The Language, which is also the album’s slowest moment (well, at least for about 50% of it, the other 50% still goes hard). It reflects on the dehumanising language of right wing media, but its impact is slightly muted with the vocals being buried a bit too low in the mix.

That would be my one gripe with the album; the vocals of frontman, Jamie Morrison, don’t seem to be able to penetrate through the wall of noise provided by the guitars and drums. There’s a couple of moments that feel setup for a big vocal punch, but they don’t quite land. Like on True Method, where he kind of sounds like Jagger, but as if you were hearing him from a distant festival stage. That’s a fairly minor nitpick though as it only really affects a few tracks. It certainly doesn’t harm standout, Spring Grove. The intro builds to a big rock-out, but fakes out briefly into something relatively mellow, only to then pull off the double bluff and kick-off into an all out rocker. When the vocals do emerge they sound absolutely urgent. The punch certainly lands on that one.

Clocking in at 26 minutes, this is pretty much the perfect length; it rarely relents but provides just enough room to breathe, and winds things up before there’s any chance of boredom. Oh and did I mention, it fucking rocks.

Best Tunes: Off I Sped, Spring Grove, The Language

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