Back in the days when Small Brown Bike was a fairly active band (late 90’s to mid 10’s…and maybe a little longer as I did lose track of them around that time) I had a conflicted relationship with their music. They had insightful lyrics, bare bones and very real much of the time, that could really get you thinking. For me songs like “Just Bones” (off the album Fell & Found) and “A Declaration of Sorts” (The River Bed) are powerful music. At times though they had some distracting arrangements that left me a little puzzled (…which could well have been my own issue but still…those was my thoughts at the time). Anyway, I still liked the band and listened. On a side note there is a pretty cool release called Recollected (on the Old Point Light Bandcamp page) that has a lot of their music on it including demos, B-sides, some covers, etc.
84 Tigers features two of the members of Small Brown Bike (Mike & Ben Reed) along with Jono Diener from the Swellers. A good starting point for music from that Michigan band is their 2012 album Running Out of Places to Go.
84 Tigers had a release back in 2022 called Time in the Lighthouse that I totally failed to pick up on apparently so this “Two Rivers” track was my entry point for their music. It is also a tribute to Travis Dopp (Small Brown Bike) who passed away in 2023. Mike Reed commented on this track in a recent press release from Earshot Media:
“‘Two Rivers’ is a tribute to Travis Dopp (Small Brown Bike). Some of his lyrics are quoted in the song. When Rocky and I realized that we had both written songs with the word ‘River’ in the title separately, it was cosmic fate that brought him into the song. I had no idea what it would become, but he took it to new heights and I still get choked up when I hear it.”
The song begins on a cycling drum and guitar riff and keeps a quick beat accompanied by a strung out lyric line before slowing way down for a reflective moment. It keeps that tandem sound throughout, kind of a rushing feeling toward the brief spaces of quiet. A nice combination with sincere lyrics that are a fitting tribute to Dopp.
You can get a listen to this track on YouTube here:
You can pre-save the album (scheduled to drop October 17th on Spartan Records) here:
Or pre-order at the Spartan Records website:
And support your locals – community is powerful
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