it’s been awhile since i’ve offered a bit of kevin max news. over the last several years, we’ve seen less and less of him, mainly due to shifts in home bases (l.a. to vegas to nashville) and label affiliations. in my estimation, his last “major” release was 2006’s the imposter, with the releases since that time (the blood & crashing gates) falling more in the ep or side project category. those releases, by and large, were good, but certainly weren’t the fully-realized albums that were stereotype be and the imposter (and between the fence & the universe, to an extent).

he’s currently ramping up for his latest project, cotes d’armor, which lies somewhere in the space between full length lp and a remix album. today, he released his first single—an original track—on yer bike! (packaged with an extended version/remix of your beautiful mind). it’s 60s surf meets 80s new wave meets something altogether new.

the track is growing on me, but truth be told, it’s started slowly for me. interestingly, i immediately made a connection with the track and put on your boots by u2, for a couple reasons. first, just the names themselves hearken back to each other. secondly, though, they seem to both share the aspect of being good in a vacuum, but when you stack them up against the collective work of the artist, they suffer slightly. again, both tracks are good, but they just don’t quite live up to all the standards i’ve come to expect.

enough with the analysis, though. take a listen and see what you think.

for those who are interested, here’s the lyrics:

retroactive packing lightning
yeah you keep em distracted
hands at your hips, with parted lips
as your walking that whippet

hotel hopping puddle jumping
yeah your full of bologne
mad max in highway gear
all french colonial

on yer bike
get on yer bike
get on yer bike
get on yer bike

sad as cancer on a cracker
but your as bold as a panther
you got the will of a sailor
and the color of danger

finger flipping trust fund hippie
yeah your growing your beard out
as you rocket through jonskoping
yeah making em scream and shout

on yer bike
get on yer bike
gotta ride yer bike
get on yer bike

silly rabbit don’t you know these trix are for kids?
and the more you look the more that you get tripped
pool hall, dive bar, fashion mall, 7 eleven
on my back, like a monkey as we tear past all the tenants

(smooth as a greyhound)

politics be damned
cause we’re the children of 80’s
saki to me saki to me
so overrated

gym peddling, busted meddling
yeah you sleep at 4 seasons
as you smoke that marijuana
with your thirty diseases

on yer bike
get on yer bike
get on yer bike
get away on a bike

south of france, Amsterdam
whirly gig there by the roadside
Budpapest, Prague, London
riding on the wildside

we’ll take a train to transylvania
and overnight become catholic
til we’re caught by interpol
and were back at the racetrack

on yer bike
get on yer bike.

your legs hold me tight
as i slip through the night
your legs hold me tight