11th July 2025
Hi everyone, hope you're all doing well! As I write this I am melting into a puddle because it 24°C at ten to seven in the evening. It was 28° earlier! I know this doesn't sound like much but I'm Irish and the highest we see is 21° so I may as well be in the Sahara desert right now. It's to be 30° tomorrow... Gulp. Anyhow, there isn't a cloud in the sky so what better time to talk about a summery single from Lucy Van Pelt!
Unless you're already well versed in Japanese indie pop, the name "Lucy Van Pelt" might not ring any bells (except for the Peanuts character), but the bands later name surely will - advantage Lucy. Advantage Lucy earned themselves a cult following with their spectacular run of four acclaimed albums in the late 90s and early 2000s, solidifying themselves as staples of Japan's indie scene. But all successful bands have to start somewhere. In July 1996, two years before their rechristening as the advantage Lucy we know today, Lucy Van Pelt released their debut single.
Red Bicycle (C-031) was a humble cassette only release on the Clover Records label. Clover Records, a label which I am quite fond of, was little over a year old at this point but had already put out a good number of tapes. While Red Bicycle was the bands debut, it wasn't the first time one of its members had appeared on Clover. Just 5 tapes prior, Lucy's lead singer Aiko Hitamine released the ever illusive Potato Week tape. That release remains lost to this day. Like its predecessor, Red Bicycle is quite a rare release. Thankfully, however, it has been found and graciouslly uploaded online for us to enjoy!
The single's opening track, "Sunny", may honestly be one of my favourite songs ever. It's a 3 minute long treat of jangly guitars and summery lyrics. The upbeat guitarwork here is great and perfectly encapsulates a sunny day. I actually have this song, and the rest of the single, downloaded onto my iPod and I have spent many a summer's day listening to it in my back garden. My favourite part is the fakeout ending around the 1:54 mark, which is followed by what can only be described as 20 seconds of jangle pop bliss. Sunny is a simple yet endlessly enamoring track. A newer, slower version of this track appeared on their debut album In Harmony a year later, but to be honest I think I prefer this version better.
The follow up track, Hammock Waltz (Petit), is an intermission more than anything. As the name suggests, it's a short but sweet song. Hammock Waltz is really just setting the stage for the final, and title, track - Red Bicycle. Red Bicycle is actually a live recording, however it doesn't say where it was recorded. Unlike other indie pop songs, which are more than happy to be on the shorter side (not that there's anyhting wrong with that), this one is a 5 minute long epic. Starting out with those iconic Lucy jangles and some great harmonica, Red Bicycle yet again captures that summer sound. It makes me want to ride around the country side on a cute bicycle, which I would do only for that it's ferioucisly warm right now and I'd probably die of heatstroke the second I step past the door. Unlike Sunny, however, this track definetly has a "bigger" atmosphere. It wouldn't feel out of place as the credits theme to a bittersweet coming-of-age movie. Red Bicycle also has a fakeout ending, which is also followed by jangle pop (and harmonica!) bliss. I think it's the fuzzy live recording that makes this track. I can only imagine the goosebumps the crowd must have gotten hearing it in person, probably in some tiny indie club. The pure passion in this song is immense.
Red Bicyle as a single is pretty unique in Lucy's discography. It has a raw and distinctly DIY sound which is only possible on small, independent labels - a sound not really present in the same capacity anywhere else in the bands library. Lucy was quick to graduate from Clover Records in favour of signing at bigger label God's Pop and eventually Toshiba EMI. This was definetly the right call for the band, as without it we wouldn't have their excellent, high-production quality albums. But it's always important to remember where they came from.