"To Him That Wills The Way" by Walking Bicycles

To Him That Wills The Way

 I love a great story and Walking Bicycles definitely has that.

Julius Moriarty, the band's guitarist was incarcerated in 2009 just weeks after the release of the band's third album, GO?.

He was released in 2012, after his three year incarceration, the band is back.

(I'm assured that it was a non-violent offense, but in the spirit of full disclosure, I do not know what his offense was, however, he was given a sentence and has served it.)

The rest of the band waited for him to be released and they did nothing during that time. Now as a free man, Moriarty returned to the fold after his release and they have unleashed their fourth album, To Him That Wills The Way on Highwheel Records.

Walking Bicycles

I was told that they're a doom-pop, psyche band...and I have literally no idea what that means.

The email went on to say that if I was a fan of Siouxsie and the Banshees or the Savages that I should dig in...well I've heard of the former but never a song and that was the first time I'd heard the name of the latter.

This album is full of fuzz and I don't mean the bright P90 fuzztones of Gary Clark Jr. It's more like the white noise machines.

It's dark and rumbling.

The melancholy vocals barely cut through the darkness of the fuzz. The guitars are front forward in the mix and the vocals are pushed to the back.

They are otherworldly and uncomfortable. It feels as though the vocals are always waiting for a moment to kick in and become huge, but the moment never comes. The discomfort gives the album an uncertain quality and a very distinct atmosphere.

The best way to describe this album is to call it a musical mosaic. It's very much all over the place. It bobs and weaves. The only constant is the fuzz and the sludge.

Release: 8/12/14
Label: Highwheel Records
Genre: Doom Pop
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