Stolen Bike Crusade

Lisa Marie (2003)

Adam White

On Stolen Bike Crusade's second EP Lisa Marie the band still sounds like
they're trying to find their niche, but are incredibly close. The Massachusetts
four-piece is comes off as tight and confident, and with a little more time to
simmer could go quite far.

The EP commences with an untitled intro. The instrumental track is a minute
of dirty metal riffing that leads into the standout "Scene Of The Crime."
With this song Stolen Bike Crusade poise themselves in an interesting position
between Thrice-style metallic post-hardcore and more gritty punk rock. While
definitely in the post-hardcore ballpark Stolen Bike Crusade seems far more
grounded and realistic than similar acts that have been signed recently. Especially
on the first few tracks the throaty vocals and distortion drenched guitars help
the band avoid the cold, joyless mood so many of their contemporaries create.
These qualities are also present on the melodic second track "Victors &
Victims."

After the rocking intro and two solid tracks Stolen Bike Crusade give off an
air of confidence and direction that many young bands lack on their initial
releases. Unfortunately the latter half of the EP seems like something of a
misstep. "Saint Claire," with it's stereotypical screaming over otherwise
quiet mid-temp music, falls far too close to the glut of new bands aping Thursday
and Glassjaw. While the final two songs on the album don't get stray as far
into this dangerous territory, they have a hard time pulling the momentum back
to that of the impressive first half.

However just when I think we've lost another promising band to the current
trend, Lisa Marie has a brief metalcore outro. If anything, it serves
as a reminder that this band's still searching and can't be pigeonholed into
a genre or movement just yet. It'll be interesting to see where this EP leads
Stolen Bike Crusade, because it sets them at a pretty obvious crossroads.