A Bicycle Commuter's Anthem (Independent)

Considering that the topics covered on A Bicycle’s Commuter’s Anthem include seasonal affective disorder, finding a worthy impregnator, and the wonderfulness of Critical Mass, one might understandably assume that Shera Kelly is about as much fun as the average Commercial Drive denizen.

It’s a testimony to the singer-songwriter’s infectiousness that she gets away with it on this five-song EP. Kelly isn’t above playing things serious, with the “Stand by the Sea” offering up the kind of Lilith-friendly folk-pop that used to score three-album deals with Nettwerk back in the ’90s. Even more austere is “Black Chariot”, which, despite sounding like Nordic death-metal slang for a vessel to the underworld, seemingly has her weighing the pros and cons of sticking things out in a relationship that may or may not be headed for the rocks.

Where A Bicycle’s Commuter’s Anthem is a joy, though, is when Kelly’s going the whimsical route, bemoaning how 19 straight days of rain leaves her unable to cope on “Lumberman’s Arch”, and wondering (over handclaps, snappy drums, and acoustic guitar) whether the dude in her bed is worthy of being her man on “Seafoam Green”. (Sample lyric on the latter: “I wish you could cook half as good as you look.”).

Quite fittingly, the real diamond here is the title track, a Dixieland-jazz-indebted, too-cute ode to two-wheeling where Kelly dreams of a world in which “lululemon makes a bicycle suit/All our asses will look hot as we commute.” Someone make that a reality and I’ll be the first to give up the keys to my car.