There are seemingly hundreds of contemporary indie pop bands that claim the bubblegum music of the 1960s as a prime influence. Few, however, manage to accurately reflect that sound in their own music, usually through an inability to lose the protective layers of irony and hipster cool long enough to actually write a bouncy two-minute pop song with enough hooks and harmonies to appeal to a discriminating Monkees fan. Then there are the Bicycles. This Toronto quintet has the bubblegum sound nailed, but there is also a spiky D.I.Y. quality to their music that connects them to like-minded acts such as the Apples in Stereo or Of Montreal. Formed in 2000, the Bicycles consist of guitarists Matt Beckett and Drew Smith, multi-instrumentalist Andrew Scott, bassist Randy Lee, and drummer Dana Snell; all five sing, often in full-on sunshine pop harmonies. The Bicycles' first serious studio sessions, co-produced by Toronto pop scenester Dan Bryk in 2002, went unreleased for several years while the band developed both their studio polish and a multimedia live show akin to that of Sufjan Stevens, with matching band outfits, props, and skits between songs. The Bicycles signed to the local indie Fuzzy Logic Records in 2005 and used the unfinished 2002 sessions and some new recordings featuring guest appearances by John Southworth and members of the Meligrove Band (which Andrew Scott splits his time with), the Hidden Cameras, and the Golden Dogs. The Good the Bad and the Cuddly was released in the summer of 2006. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
Beckett and Smith recorded the acoustic EP As Is in 2000 before recruiting Scott, Snell, and Randy Lee to grow the band to a five-piece. Six years later they released The Good The Bad and The Cuddly in 2006 with Fuzzy Logic Recordings. Recorded with Dan Bryk, Robert Sledge and José Miguel Contreras, the album features complex, lush arrangements with a lo-fi sound [1]. The band supported the album with a tour of Canada and The United States, including a supporting slot with The Boy Least Likely To in 2006. In 2007, they released an interactive board game based upon the album.
2008 saw Lee leave to play violin with The Hylozoists[2]. The now four-piece rejoined Contreras to record and release their sophomore album, Oh No, It's Love. Featuring songwriting and lead vocals by all four members, the album spent six weeks at #1 on the Canadian campus radio charts[3].
Spin Magazine noted the band in their February 2008 issue in their City Guide to Toronto, claiming "If Wes Anderson ever cottoned on to (The Bicycles) swooning chamber pop--which draws from the Kinks and the Beach Boys--he'd soak his scarf with tears of joy."[4]
