Bike Routes Oozes Confidence And Variety With ‘Prairie’

New Jersey based pop rock artist Bike Routes have put out a new record, with ‘Prairie’. This marks their first release since their ‘Rush of Energy’ EP back in 2024. This album dives into different genres and lyrics that feel pure and genuine to this artist’s outlook on life, their memories, and life experience resulting in great tunes front to back. 

It’s no denying that this record has a big 80’s influence when it comes to pop rock, or just the vibe in general. It’s strongest in songs such as “Replacements”, “Chaos Ball”, and “Shadows”. Listening to this album made me feel like I was in a time machine going through every era of the 80’s and they still somehow make it feel fresh and unique to their sound. The synth on this album does so much heavy lifting when it comes to capturing that vibe and atmosphere. The amount of talent put into all those sounds and little bits to accompany these tracks is absolutely astounding. The production deserves a shoutout as well for perfectly capturing the energy and environment needed for an album such as this one. 

The choruses on this record are a standout as well, and it’s wild how underrated this artist is when these songs feel so big. A track like “There It Goes” should be one of the biggest songs out there right now, just for how well it all comes together and embraces this side of rock. Another song like “Ripley” does a great job at giving this record some energy in spots, and keeping it fun and confident when it comes to the lyrics. The lyricism on this album feels very earnest, yet oozes confidence and genuine nature throughout these songs. It really puts you in the shoes of the artist’s mindset and that’s one of their strong suits by a mile. The horns on this album do a great job at adding to a song when it needs it, “Delicate” is a great example of it and it makes it even catchier I would say. 

All in all, ‘Prairie’ is a really solid piece of work by one of the most underrated artists in our scene right now. Bike Routes deserves to be on all the tours and show his music off to people who wouldn’t normally go out of their way to listen to it, since we all deserve some variety like that in our lives.