Nail Yourself To The Ground

Small Brown Bike, who recently got back together, are a post-hardcore band from Michigan. They feature dual vocals, much like Avail and Hot Water Music, interlaces with very melodic instrumentation. The EP opens with "Trains All Talk", and after a small guitar only intro, has the rest of the band kick in. The bass is heavily focused on for this track, with spacey guitar in the background. It's a nice lead song, but doesn't completely show what the band can do. The next song however, "Fami(liar) to You" really shows what they do. Though the guitar keeps the same spacey tone, the drumming, especially on the intro is completely different. The vocals are also different, sounding more like Braid. This is when the band also shows off their dual vocal abilities. The vocals really complement each other nicely, playing off the differences in styles. The third song drops the spacey guitar tones completely; this is when the band sounds a lot like Hot Water Music but with less gruff vocals. The chorus is very powerful featuring the dual vocals again, this time with more shouting. But, it's not incoherent shouting, it's very melodic shouting.

"So I Fall" is the next song and is an acoustic ballad. The guitar sounds a lot like country; but not bad country. Sort of like when the Replacements had a country influence. It's a slow song, with soft drumming as a back up. It's a great song and offers up something different than the rest of the EP. The band goes back into the post-hardcore melodies with the final cut, "A Table For Four". It starts with a hushed, slow intro, before breaking into the great tunes they can play. It's got the dual vocals again, but this time, they're done differently. Mixed with singing are the same words, but spoken instead. The chorus is another powerful one, with back and forth shouting. The only downside to the song is that it's six minutes long.

All in all, the EP is great. As mentioned, the last song loses it's steam a bit, but is still good. The acoustic track is worth it for the EP alone, but the first three tracks are all good in their own right. Small Brown Bike can really write catchy songs and a great at mixing in separate vocals.

8/10

http://www.noidearecords.com/bands/releases/smallbrownbike_nail.php

It seems to vary between in and out of stock for a physical copy, but there's a digital one, and it's wicked cheap.