The Village Bicycle rides hard
By Justin Manger
"We play the songs that everyone wants to hear but are too embarrassed to request" said student Andrew "St. Lou" Whiteman of his band, The Village Bicycle (TVB). "Basically, we want people to get [rowdy] and to have a good time at our shows. If that happens, we're satisfied."
The Santa Clara based group, consisting of Whiteman on bass, junior J.P. Doucette (environmental studies/economics) on guitar, senior John Nicoletti (accounting) on drums and junior Floyd Tucker (communication) on vocals, must have been thoroughly pleased with themselves two Saturdays ago during and after their performance at Playground on Bellomy Street. Opening their two-hour set with a blistering rendition of the Dire Straits' classic "Money for Nothing," the show started on a high note and did nothing but become progressively more fun as the musicians worked their way through the set list.
As with any live music concert, the show had its stand-out performances. These included a rock-ified version of Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares to You," a punk-faithful translation of Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" and a climatic, enthusiasm-soaked cover of the ridiculously-cheesy Dio hit "Holy Diver" to cap the set.
More noticeable than these stellar run-throughs, however, was a rather uncommon occurrence in the weird and wacky realm of live shows: at no point in the night did the crowd's intensity or enjoyment of the band's antics wane.
"I really think live music makes parties way better" remarks band-founder Nicoletti. "I've been disappointed that Santa Clara's party scene isn't more raucous than it is. I want this band to help people loosen up and have a good time."
Seeing TVB's crowd react with so much passion, it 's hard to believe not only that the band formed just a couple months ago, but how casually it happened.
"Nicoletti asked if I play music. I said 'I try.' Then he asked if I play punk music. I said 'Hell yes I play punk music.' It pretty much just went from there," says guitarist Doucette of TVB's origins.
As far as musical philosophy is concerned, the Bicycle seems somewhat ambiguous.
"Eh, we really don't have [a philosophy]," said Doucette. "It's more about taking ex-top 40 songs that suck and making people remember why they liked them for the 15 minutes they did" said Doucette. "Of course a whole lot of it too is also about [enjoying the staples of college-age recreation], but hey."
Ultimately, it is this kind of fundamentally-cavalier, don't-give-a-crap attitude (combined of course with a unique and sometimes-disturbing fascination with David Hasselhoff) which makes TVB viable as a party band.
While not issuing the most musically awe-inspiring of performances, the Bicycle doesn't care about sounding perfect or trying to make some sort of grandiose musical statement.
"We're not going to be career musicians. We're just guys who like playing music so bad it's good," said Doucette.
Look for the Bicycle to be playing at CandJ's and The Bronco in the near future. It won't be an experience you will soon forget.