A real mutt: Pop/rock blended with folk, a few jazz chords, ukulele outshines electric guitars. Lyrics like a Richard Brautigan novel. But wait. There's more.

12 MP3 Songs in this album (42:06) !
Related styles: POP: Folky Pop, FOLK: Anti-Folk

People who are interested in The Kinks They Might Be Giants should consider this download.


Details:
Here is an album review by Frank De Blase of the Rochester City Paper:

"The Bicycats' lone Bicycat (essentially), Zachary Bernstein, celebrates the birth of his new CD "How Could You?" while also celebrating the 25th anniversary of himself. The CD opens up swinging all Redbone and Tin Pan with "My Heart Belongs To Dixie" before veering back to the tight 'n' sweet pop that the last Bicycats platter, "I Love You For Your Mind," teemed with. With quirky lyrics about killing spiders, a waitress who's actually a bird on her way down south, and a serenade set in a cemetery, this album is more acoustic and jazzy than the last, but just as much fun for oddballs and evenballs alike."

And here are some brief descriptions of each song by the songwriter:

1. "My Heart Belongs To Dixie": The most important chord in this song is the A7, but the piano solo is probably the best part.

2. "You Never Kill Spiders For Me Anymore": I stole this title from an ex-girlfriend. That's okay though -- she doesn't write songs.

3. "Paradise Is Yours": My apologies to the great state of New Hampshire for stealing their motto.

4. "Free Bird": Not the 'Free Bird' by Lynyrd Skynyrd you all know and love, but one of my very own. Now every time I ask if anyone has any requests, and some jerk shouts, "Free Bird!", I'll be prepared.

5. "A Little": The sweetest song I've ever written, I think. Originally meant to be sung in German.

6. "The Way People Think": After playing this song live a couple dozen times, I realized that it's about the mundane symptoms of capitalism. Wait for the tuba part.

7. "(When You) Let Me Touch You": This one's about how much I like touching somebody.

8. "Protect Your Personal Belongings (Parts 1-5)": The lyrics were ripped from an email sent by my college's Residence Life guy in light of some on-campus thefts. I thought that a mini-rock opera would be the best avenue to spread this message to a broader audience.

9. "The Illuminating Breakfast": Originally about a "regular" breakfast (which should contain its own merits), but then turned up a notch by adding the lyrical element that this particular breakfast will turn you into the sun. Musically, this song proves my hypothesis that ukuleles and surf organs were made for each other. I thank Dave Davies for inspiring my electric guitar playing on this one.

10. "Italian Meal": Originally written for the Jonny Cigar play "An American in Paris AKA Bullfight!!!". Jonny appears on the recording. In the play, Jonny cuts me off just after the song begins its round in the key of B.

11. "I Left My Heart In Rochester": Inspired by my time as a pit drummer for "Shout! The Mod Musical". I even got one of the show's performers, Amanda Danskin, to sing the song for me.

12. "Erie Canal": A jazz waltz. The lyrics are unfinished, but I'll never again be in the mood I was in when I wrote it. One day, I'd like "Erie Canal" to be found in Fake Books, wedged in between "Embraceable You" and "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye".