On first encountering Minibikes’ debut album For Woods Or Trail one could easily imagine that the up and coming five-piece would be better suited to climes far warmer than the cold grey streets of Melbourne town. It is perhaps in protest to the eternal winter that plagues their city that Minibikes have released a musical document which positively evokes the spirit of summer.
Minibikes came into existence in 2010 when guitar playing singer songwriter Marcel Borrack realised he needed a band to add meat to the new material he had been coming up with. Teaming up with percussionist Al Barden, keyboard player and Clare Bowditch and the Feeding Set member Libby Chow, bass player Nathan Farrelly, and along with the addition of Tim Harvey on guitar, the newly monikered Minibikes set about honing a sound and working on the songs that were to become the band’s debut LP For Woods Or Trail.
Captured at Borrack’s home studio with the man himself taking control of production duties, the album benefited from the freedom such a situation afforded. This essential element allowed the tracks to grow organically and as a result the album is impressive in its singular focus and ultimate resolution. While replete with upbeat and uplifting songs the overall tone of the album hints of melancholy simmering just below the surface.
As far as debut albums, it is a lofty ambition to expect every track will hit the mark; thankfully on Minibike’s For Woods Or Trail this suggestion is moot as each track threatens to outdo the next as its strongest. For lovers of pop, for lovers of rock, soul, and yes, even bossa nova, For Woods Or Trail is the soundtrack to the endless summer we all wish our lives could be.
Lyrics:
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh So less is more It's more or less a fight Who's keeping score? It's changing overnight When chocolate milk, got spilt, down on the floor Well no one seemed to care, oh yeah Oh oooh, oh oooh, oh oooh, Why? Our leader get's deposed, we lie exposed, we kill to feel To many, irons in the fire I'm burning, burning with desire The wind has changed, It's blowing from the east A dirty haze, is creeping over me Our leader get's deposed, we lie exposed, we kill to feel The cannonball, is aiming right at me I'm gonna fall, and everyone can see Just a health scare, it's in it's infancy We get the right care to take our victory Our leader get's deposed, we lie exposed, we kill to feel Our leader get's deposed, we lie exposed, we kill to feelLyrics:
We worked in cafes She smelled like mayonnaise And she couldn't do no wrong And I thought it was ace The jeans high on her waist Were worn without irony She walked through the fire I crawled on the coals Everybody's heads were shaking Well she'd get up and pose Yeah she'd wear tennis clothes When she didn't know how to play And the service she gave Never ceased to amaze It came on like a hurricane She said I know that you know We don't have to go slow And I could feel the walls start shaking It feels so quiet and then it goes like a bomb I've got my hands in the air and I just get dragged along She walked on the fire I crawled on the coalsLyrics:
(Oooo oooo oooo oooo ooooo) Now just what happened I can't quite recall We might have been forsaken from the moment we were born I don't think I could forget You were looking like hot shit Through accident or from design We're traveling on assembly lines Oh oh whoah Your interest is Japan mine is the 1980's Our watches synchronized our lives are calibrated I know you like elbow baps on tweed And I like the way you sit around while everyone concedes Your correspondence comes on time Everything so well defined Your observations so sublime Your hands are clean and so are mine Oh oh whoah Your interest is Japan mine is the 1980's Our watches synchronized our lives are calibrated You told me how you dearly loved administration And now we're drawn together in our aberrationLyrics:
We've been out a while, spent the day in clover Find our way back home, then we're sleeping over And the ringing in my ears and the buzzing in my head We'd give it all away for just one more and we don't even need it Here come the bees again Here come the bees again So we'll wait a while and we're waiting still But if we turn the page, then we'll be drawn in And at night it never seems like all our days are different But the only way to change the hive is kill the queen and leave it Here come the bees again Here come the bees again Now we're building walls, that we can't see over And they're growing higher while we're sinking lower Down into the ditch, down into the mud But in every buzzing wing the secret of the hive is over Here come the bees again Here come the bees againLyrics:
Now everybody knows From your head to your toes You don't get what you're owed Just broken bones I gave up science in my teens But just between you and me There is no karma coming There's no divinity Cause everybody knows There's only broken bones From your head to your toes Just broken bones The lion and the lamb The left and the right hand You can never take away All the sins and the sham And you're given what you get That's the recipe for it If you're looking for an answer You haven't found it yet Cause everybody knows There's only broken bones From your head to your toes Just broken bones The lion and the lamb The left and the right hand You can never take away All the sins and the sham When the world starts shaking It's well defined Everybody's quaking On the assembly line You may think you're above You might think you're below It's just the same now Like a television show You're not even gonna know When your gonna go The lion and the lamb The left and the right hand From your head to your toes Just broken bonesLyrics:
Oh can you come back home, I can change this time I didn't know how wrong I was, I didn't realize The walls are closing in on me, I try to memorize All the patterns of where I went wrong form right before my eyes I should have known Thursday nights felt just right, now they just remind me How I'd meet you after work, we'd stay out for a while I'd get drunk you'd get high, we'd end up on the floor Trying not to wake the house as we'd come in the door I should have known The voyages and privations are filling up my head When I get back I'm gonna change, leave that self for dead And as I'm walking up your street, I'm scratching at my head Thinking all the things I should have done instead And how I should have known Now I'm knocking on your door Ringing on your bell I'm saying please darling once more Oh can you come back home, I can change this time I didn't know how wrong I was, I didn't realize The walls are closing in on me, I try to memorize All the patterns of where I went wrong form right before my eyes I should have knownLyrics:
I asked the Top Brass, when's it gonna end It's going nowhere fast, divided by ten So watcha gonna do, with your killer cold hands So watcha gonna do, how ya gonna turn around Hey they're going to town Livin' up, pullin' down, waking up, keep the wheels turning round Well there's one thing that I want you to know Everywhere's a wall, everywhere's a snow job Oooo top brass, don't give em half a chance, for coming home Yeah this top brass, don't give you half a chance, we're all alone So early in the day, I creep into the sun I crawl down from the trees, and take a look at everyone I put it down to luck, and your killer cold hands And your fatalism's all, it's all you can demand Hey they're going to town Livin' up, pullin' down, waking up, keep the wheels turning round Well there's one thing that I want you to know Everywhere's a wall, everywhere's a snow job Oooo top brass, don't give em half a chance, for coming home Yeah this top brass, don't give you half a chance, we're all alone Oooo top brass, don't give you half a chance, for coming home Yeah this top brass, don't give them half a chance, we're all aloneLyrics:
There's gold crushing our hands It's so heavy when we stand on ceremony there are no takers as yet All the people are expecting us to shingaling They're listening while they're twisting Cops are fine collecting Ooo Woo Hoo Hoo I'll take my cue from the fall of the government The hands of a tyrant, my catapult to try yeah My arch enemies on trial for indiscretion Cause they spread like butter at the thought of being under rated Ooo Woo Hoo Hoo There's an interest in the end And a way to play your part You take the role of the bomb I'll be your Brechtian sparkLyrics:
Well there's a crack in my head And I can't seem to carry the thread Nor can you, if we only knew O wo oh oh oh What we gonna do? Jude, I'm waiting for my Jude If you saw I think that you'd Understand I can't be moved O wo wo wo ooo And there it's gonna stay If there's a chance, it's wearing away And if everyone's screwed, then we're screwed too O wo oh oh oh What we gonna do? Jude, I'm waiting for my Jude If you saw I think that you'd Understand I can't be moved O wo wo wo oooLyrics:
Hey eee ey..woah bla bla We'll kiss the winter Buenos dias We'll pay the rent that's in arrears Just like a dream that's coming true Instead of crossing the distance to Wires, we're through to the wire x 2 And if there's nothing left to fear Can we survive another year? I heard that someone lost an ear For forsaking a career and Wires, we're through to the wire And we're standing by on one, the count has just begun Hey eee ey..woah bla blaLyrics:
INSTRUMENTALLyrics:
I went riding the other night To Northcote on my bike That's what I'm like I had my helmet on But no protection for All the things that I don't like There's too many emo kids tonight And I guess my guard was down But you think you know who's round On your side of town But you don't And remember they can vote Think of all the things they've done before They stole your fringe And now they'll steal your car I don't know what it's about And I could be missing out You know I doubt When I'm out And I see that they're about I'll just keep riding right along They got the streets But they've still got it wrong
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