Try Me Bicycle

Imagine a coffee shop gig. There's dude or dudette strumming away on stage, pouring his or her heart into the mic in between sips of complimentary joe (the musician's payment for performing). It's a nice change from the sounds of grinding beans and your mate's babble about post-apocalyptic literature. But, after the second or third song, you're, like, seriously bored and quietly slip out the side door. The performer notices, of course, and you feel like a douche. Now, think of the singer-songwriter format with a beefed-up lineup and stellar musicianship, and you're close to imagining Try Me Bicycle. The Phoenix-based foursome — Andy Naylor (vocals, guitar), Jay Novak (bass), Jacob Koller (piano), and Laraine Kaizer (violin) — debut their quiet, pensive sounds in 12 original tunes, penned by Naylor, with Voicings. "April Sky" instills a hyper level of calm with Naylor's bold timbre and Koller's pensive piano passage, while "My History Bore a Knife" delights with a period of moody violin scratches and the lyrics: "The lights were out/The TV off/The sun was up/I was taking part in you/And on the verge of feeling something new." If you want to feel a special level of mental stand-stillness (read: not boredom), Voicings is for you. Plus, it can absolve you of any previous douchedom.