Posted in Whathaveyou on January 5th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Swedish heavy rockers Dozer are looking to issue their first full-length since 2008 sometime this year as part of Blues Funeral Recordings‘ PostWax vinyl subscription series, and I can think of few albums that I personally am more anticipating hearing in 2022 than that. Maybe none.
I won’t at all discount the work guitarist and principal songwriter Tommi Holappa has done with Greenleaf in Dozer‘s absence — 2021’s Echoes From a Mass (review here) was a heavy blues beacon in a pretty dark year, and I don’t think it’s out of line to say that Greenleaf has progressed along a path that’s in part informed by where Dozer might’ve gone while benefitting from the differences of the other personalities involved; I could go on about this and probably will at some point — but after a decade of periodic shows and hints that something might be in the works, to know new Dozer is in actual progress feels great.
They’ll make their next record without drummer Olle Mårthans, it seems. Mårthans was with the band since 2008’s Beyond Colossal (discussed here; reissue featured here) — such as it was — and was a monster behind the kit, injecting youthful energy into Dozer‘s tried and true aggressive style of riff-led shove. The new drummer is Sebastian Olsson, who also plays in Greenleaf — Dozer bassist Johan Rockner likewise played in Greenleaf for a time, so there’s plenty of fluid history between the two bands — and he’ll appear on the new Dozer release, which, again, is happening and that’s wonderful.
The band’s social media announcement follows:
DOZER – BIG NEWS
We’d like to thank our (now former) drummer Olle for all the good memories. He could, sadly, no longer participate in our journey.
We’d also like to thank our new drummer Sebastian, also in Greenleaf, for taking part in this new chapter.
Great things are coming. New album with a new swinging setup.
DOZER is: Tommi Holappa – Guitar Fredrik Nordin – Guitar/Vox Johan Rockner – Bass Sebastian Olsson – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 27th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Much-missed Swedish heavy rockers Dozer announce their return after 13 years with a new studio album to be released on Blues Funeral Recordings‘ PostWax subscription vinyl series. Their last record was 2008’s Beyond Colossal (discussed here; reissue featured here), and the band has played intermittently since getting back together alongside Lowrider at Desertfest Berlin and London in 2013, but even that’s eight years ago at this point. Certainly guitarist Tommi Holappa‘s work before and after that time in Greenleaf isn’t to be dismissed, but Dozer‘s work is the stuff of a very particular legend, and having Fredrik Nordin on guitar and vocals alongside Holappa on a full Dozer studio release is a significant happening.
The lineup for Dozer‘s impending PostWax offering will be Nordin, Holappa, bassist Johan Rockner and drummer Olle Mårthans, and that too is exceptionally good news.
Fresh off the PR wire:
Stoner rock legends DOZER to release first studio album in 13 years, as part of PostWax series on Blues Funeral Recordings.
Swedish stoner rock legends DOZER recently entered the studio to record their first full-length album since 2008’s “Beyond Colossal”. It will be released by Blues Funeral Recordings as part of their upcoming PostWax Vol.II vinyl series. Dozer. A band whose name stands alongside the greatest pillars of the European desert rock movement, going back to its earliest genesis. A band whose music evolved, branched and grew over the course of five seminal albums and a wealth of memorable singles and EPs. Their era of peak activity saw them always crafting their sound as they matured and developed, endlessly sharpening their chops with shows and tours alongside Mastodon, Rollins Band, Hellacopters, Spiritual Beggars, Clutch, Nebula, Entombed and more.
Dozer has been playing festivals and reissuing a handful of their classic releases for nearly a decade, but the world has been without a proper new album for some time. Now, Dozer is well underway on a new studio album, which will be presented by Blues Funeral Recordings as part of its exclusive PostWax Vol. II series, as well as in a worldwide format to follow. It’s a homecoming, as Blues Funeral’s founder originally released Dozer on his first label, MeteorCity, on both the ‘Welcome to MeteorCity’ compilation and the Unida/Dozer double EP. Time passes, creativity re-ignites, friends circle back.
Says singer/guitarist Fredrik Nordin about Dozer’s return to the studio: “Cancelled gigs. Isolation. Many full moons have passed since we were last creating music together. We came to the conclusion that we should make something positive of all this… so we started to create. The ball was in motion. Made a post on Instagram which caught the attention of our old friend Jadd. He asked if we were writing an album? Yes, we said. PostWax and Record deal? Hell yes, we said. The ball was rolling. 2022 will be one hell of a year. How it will sound? No one knows. All we can tell you is that it will be something to look forward to, because it’s gonna be one hell of a trip.”
To subscribe to PostWax Vol. II and receive Dozer’s forthcoming album in a stunning collector’s format alongside PostWax releases featuring Acid King, Dead Meadow, Josiah, Dopelord, Elephant Tree, Lowrider, REZN, Mammoth Volume, The Otolith and Vinnum Sabbathi, visit Bluesfuneral.com.
DOZER is: Tommi Holappa – Guitar Fredrik Nordin – Guitar/Vox Johan Rockner – Bass Olle Mårthans – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 2nd, 2021 by JJ Koczan
This announcement of September tour dates for Skraeckoedlan was actually made earlier this month — and scrolling back through the band’s Facebook page, I remember why the dates haven’t been posted here already. It was a Friday, and I was doneski. By the time I got around to Monday when they might’ve been posted, it had slipped my mind. No, it’s not like I’m so awash in tour announcements that I can’t get a handle on them — though I expect if I was, you know, better at life, that would be the case — but it doesn’t take much for me to get distracted these days. Moderately loud noises. Blinking lights. Nothing. What were we talking about?
Fortunately for me, Fuzzorama Records included the tour in their latest email newsletter, which if you’ll recall also brought word the other day (yesterday?) that Skraeckoedlan were among the bands announced as taking part in the Truckfighters Fuzz Festival 2 in Stockholm this November. You wanna go? I do. And if you’re saying, hey, didn’t Skraeckoedlan just put out the anniversary edition of their debut album, Äppelträdet (review here), on The Sign Records back in June? Yes, they did. Remember too that Fuzzorama issued the third Skraeckoedlan album, Eorþe (review here), in 2019. Also that Skraeckoedlan and Truckfighters have worked together all along on production, shows, etc. Specific to the festival, Skraeckoedlan played it in 2019. So yeah. Buds.
Here’s dates from that newsletter:
Skraeckoedlan to tour Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium in Sept!
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 21st, 2021 by JJ Koczan
A never-released 2006 EP from Solarius, who featured Graveyard’s Jonatan Ramm on guitar and vocals, a reissue of B.U.S. The Unknown Secretary‘s 2016 debut (review here), and another reissue, of Stonewall Noise Orchestra‘s 2005 debut album, Vol. 1. Heavy Psych Sounds is sending multiple signals here. First, that its reissue program, which has already fostered revisits to outings from Dozer, Nebula, Kylesa, Josiah, Sgt. Sunshine, and others, will continue to dig into the pre-social-media era of underground heavy and find treasure waiting to be unearthed. Stonewall Noise Orchestra alone proves that, and Solarius feels like a flex there too.
It may be that B.U.S. have been picked up by Heavy Psych Sounds for their next outing — they released an album in 2019 (review here) on RidingEasy that was killer and showed them as underrated — but either way, five years later, their first one is worth another look, and it demonstrates the ever-increasing reach of HPS to do what it wants and when. The Italian label is the go-to for heavy rock and roll and psych in Europe. Their reissues are a victory lap in that regard.
Do Norrsken‘s complete works next.
Info and preorder links follow, courtesy the PR wire:
HPS183 *** SOLARIUS – Universal Trial ***
– first press of the 2006’s unreleased EP feat. members of Graveyard –
We are extremly proud to start the presale of the SOLARIUS 2006’s unreleased EP UNIVERSAL TRIAL !!
Recorded back in 2006 and hidden up until now. Swedish retro rockers Solarius masterpiece “Universal Trial” is now brought to daylight with this release. 70’s groovy hard blues rock with a psychedelic twist and featuring Jonatan Ramm of Graveyard fame (before joining that band). Hard, groovy, soft and fuzzy sound that brings you back to the early 70’s.
The songs were recorded in Don Pierre Studios in Gothenburg produced by the legendary Don Alsterberg (Graveyard etc). The master tapes were forgotten but are now found and released on Heavy Psych Sounds Records. The recording is 100% analogue and recorded and mixed on tape. The songs gets its magic from a beautiful mix of groove, melodies, fuzzy hard rock and dreamful psych prog rock influences.
RELEASED IN 15 TEST PRESS VINYL 100 ULTRA LTD 3 COLOR STRIPED GOLD/TRANSPARENT/BLUE VINYL 300 LTD NEON YELLOW VINYL BLACK VINYL DIGIPAK RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 24th
TRACKLIST SIDE A Universal Trial – 4.58 Sky Of Mine – 4.14 SIDE B Into The Sun – 6.26 Mother Nature Mind – 5.25
SOLARIUS is: Jonatan Ramm – Guitar and vocals Mattias Ohde – Bass and vocals Fredrik Aghem – Drums Johan Grettve – Keys
HPS184 *** B.U.S. – The Unknown Secretary ***
– repress of the 2016’s debut album –
We are extremly proud to start the presale of the B.U.S. 2016’s debut album THE UNKNOWN SECRETARY repress !!
A while later in the Heavens, where angels reigned, there was once held a great symposium, a glorious feast. Everyone was happy and having a great time, until Lucifer, fairest and mightiest of all the angels, brought in suspicious and strange substances, offering them freely with both hands for everyone to take. All were fooled by the Ancient Serpent, starting to misbehave and act in contradiction to the Heavenly Laws. The Almighty God, enraged upon learning about the mutiny, threw everyone down on earth to suffer eternally in hunger, ugliness and desperation. Vulnerable now to each and every temptation, they are ready to perpetuate Good and Evil, while building their new earthly Kingdom in any way they can.
Angelic chants, Demon’s screams, witches dancing and woeful mortal suffering are recounted in this album’s songs, embellished with mesmerising hymns and sharp riffs. Chaos is always close and all that remains is the human revolution against the forces of evil.
“The Unknown Secretary” comes to further unsettle the turbulent waves of music and burn its own mark in history.
Today, five years after its original release, Heavy Psych Sounds reissues this retro gem, serving it once again straight into your record case.
RELEASED IN 15 TEST PRESS VINYL 100 ULTRA LTD QUAD BLACK/RED VINYL 300 LTD BLUE VINYL BLACK VINYL DIGIPAK
RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 8th
TRACKLIST A1 Fallen – 3:33 A2 Masteroid – 4:45 A3 New Black Volume – 4:53 A4 Forever Grey – 3:28 A5 Don’t Fear Your Demon – 5:04 SIDE B B1 Rockerbus – 7:38 B2 Withered Thorn – 4:49 B3 Over The Hills – 4:56 B4 Jimi – 5:20
VOL. 1 is the legendary debut album of the swedish stonerockers Stonewall Noise Orchestra, released via Daredevil Records in 2005 featuring ex members from Demon Cleaner and Greenleaf!! This is a Stoner Rock masterpiece picked with some Black Sabbath and Hawkwind fragments! If you like it slow, heavy and straight in your face you can’t miss this one.
After more then 15 years Heavy Psych Sounds decided to give a new life to this masterpiece and repress it in completely new coloured vinyl versions.
RELEASED IN 15 TEST PRESS VINYL 100 ULTRA LTD 3 COLOR STRIPED RED/TRANSPARENT/BLACK VINYL 300 LTD LIGHT BLUE VINYL BLACK VINYL DIGIPAK DIGITAL
RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 5th
TRACKLIST Superfortress – 5:05 An Epic Curse – 7:41 (CD BONUS TRACK) Two Sides Of A Sin – 4:51 As My Sun Turns Black – 3_51 Freedoms Prize (Demon Cleaner cover) – 5:21 Going To Clarksdale – 4:33 Evolution? – 5:28 High Octane Fever – 5:14 Hill Street Madman – 3:49 Sweet Queen – 4:49
Swedish heavy rockers Greenleaf released their eighth full-length, Echoes From a Mass (review here), on March 26 through Napalm Records. At 20 years removed from their debut album, 2001’s Revolution Rock (discussed here), it is only their second full-length in their career to be made with an entirely consistent lineup. With founding guitarist Tommi Holappa as ever at the core, Echoes From a Mass brings him together again with vocalist Arvid Hällagård and drummer Sebastian Olsson, who both arrived with 2014’s Trails and Passes (review here), and bassist Hans Frölich, who made his first appearance on 2018’s Hear the Rivers (review here). What started and was for more than its first decade a classic, heavy ’70s-style side-project for Holappa from his main outfit at the time, Dozer, has now been a working, touring band for seven years, consistent now in a way they’ve never been before.
Tommi Holappa, in addition to being one of his generation’s foremost heavy rock songwriters, has a smile that is infectious. We’ve spoken any number of times over the years between Dozer and Greenleaf, and it was a pleasure to do so again. He’s a nice guy, and when he talks about writing music for Greenleaf as an increasingly complex process of chasing what feels right, it’s easy to believe it. There has always been an organic sensibility to his craft. Not that the songs aren’t worked on — he talks about hammering out the tracks on Echoes From a Mass in jams with Olsson from which Frölich was excluded due to pandemic restrictions; former bassist/producer Bengt Bäcke stepped in for some — but that even for being thought through, they hold onto the inspired spark out of which they flourished.
I was particularly interested to talk about Greenleaf as a full, stable-lineup band with Holappa not only for the novelty, but for his being able to put material together with these players in mind, the trust that must inherently emerge from working together over a longer stretch of time. I don’t think Greenleaf‘s lineup — fluid as it’s been — has ever included outright strangers as opposed to friends and peers in other bands, up to and including Dozer, Lowrider, Truckfighters and others, but that’s different than being in the same band with someone for years, and you can hear that difference in the space Holappa gives Hällagård‘s vocal melodies on the opener “Tides” and other songs from the record. That trust is there. And also some jazz, apparently.
It was Friday afternoon after a long week, but great to chat just the same. I hope you enjoy and thanks for watching.
Greenleaf, Echoes From a Mass Interview with Tommi Holappa, April 23, 2021
Greenleaf‘s Echoes From a Mass is out now on Napalm Records. More info available at the links below.
So, the original version was a Swedish title with English lyrics appearing on Skraeckoedlan‘s 2011 debut, Äppelträdet (review here). Now titled “Arise the Sun,” what was “Soluppgång” before has Swedish lyrics. Opposite the title. If you manage to keep that straight before actually listening to one song or the other, you’ll have done better than me.
Actually, it took me a little bit (before I saw the info below, obviously) to work out which song on Äppelträdet “Arise the Sun” corresponded with. If you take the roots it makes sense. “Sol” relates to sol, solar, the sun. And I know from Dutch that “utgang” is exit, so it makes sense that “uppgång” in Swedish would be relatively close to getting up, or rising. So, sunrise, basically. “Arise the Sun.” I wish I could say I was linguistically talented enough to have worked that out just reading the titles beforehand, but no. I matched the riffs. “Soluppgång” was the second track on Äppelträdet and is readily recognizable from that position in its new incarnation.
This is the second single the Borlänge four-piece have issued to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their first long-player — their most recent was 2019’s Eorþe (review here) — coming behind “Universum” which arrived in February. As I recall, this was to be a series of three, so that puts them on track for June for the last one? I guess that’ll be “Doedaroedlan,” which opened side B of the original vinyl. Here’s looking forward, whenever it arrives.
If you’ve heard Skraeckoedlan’s 2011 debut album “Äppelträdet”, you probably recognize this massive track. “Arise the Sun” was originally released with English lyrics, with the title “Soluppgång.”
Celebrating their 10 year anniversary, Skraeckoedlan has re-recorded the track, this time with Swedish lyrics. “Arise the Sun” is mastered by Cult of Luna’s Magnus Lindberg.
Enjoy it loud, and stay tuned – More anniversary releases from Skraeckoedlan TBA!
Skraeckoedlan: Robert Lamu – Vocals/Guitar Henrik Grüttner – Guitar Erik Berggren – Bass Martin Larsson – Drums
Skraeckoedlan, “Soluppgång” from Äppelträdet (2011)
Posted in Reviews on March 25th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Behold Greenleaf in their element. The Swedish heavy rockers date back to the turn of the century with their someday-I-will-own-that-vinyl self-titled EP, and Echoes From a Mass is their eighth album and third for Napalm Records. It arrives some 20 years on from their 2001 debut, Revolution Rock (discussed here), and finds them a more stable band than perhaps founding guitarist Tommi Holappa, also of Dozer, ever expected them to be.
Crucially, this is the fourth offering since Arvid Hällagård came aboard as vocalist, and like each of its predecessors, it finds the Holappa/Hällagård dynamic growing in exciting ways that are only bolstered by the rhythm section of bassist Hans Frölich and drummer Sebastian Olsson. Holappa has always been a songwriter as the catalogs of Greenleaf and Dozer both demonstrate, but with Echoes From a Mass even more than 2018’s Hear the Rivers (review here), the guitar parts sound as though they were constructed with the vocal accompaniment in mind.
From opener “Tides” onward through the 10-track/46-minute release, Greenleaf and longtime-associate/producer Karl Daniel Lidén create a world with these songs that is at once contemplative as the boldly-chosen leadoff is, and also decidedly blues-based, as cuts like “Good God I Better Run Away,” “Bury Me My Son” and “Hang On” demonstrate. Hear the Rivers and 2016’s Rise Above the Meadow (review here) before it seemed to reach for the same kind of spaciousness in sound — Hällagård‘s first record with the band, 2014’s Trails and Passes (review here), was somewhat more earthbound in its production — and Echoes From a Mass pushes further in inhabiting that space, with melodies floating in vocals echoes above even what in other contexts might be a driving straightforward riff on “Love Undone” or a hook conjured by lead guitar in early cut “Needle in My Eye.”
As one would expect, it’s not all atmospherics and moody sounds, with Olsson leading the way into “Good God I Better Run Away” and the title-line there making for one of the album’s most memorable impressions — there’s stiff competition — or (presumed) side B opener “A Hand of Might” with its classic and signature Holappa boogie, each riff cycle seeming to try to push the one before it out of its way en route to the listener. The tradeoffs throughout between loud and quiet, faster and subdued, etc., bring to light the chemistry in the band at this point.
This is Frölich‘s second long-player with Greenleaf, Olsson‘s fourth, and, as noted, Hällagård‘s fourth. For a band who throughout the last 20 years has seen players come and go, come and go and come and go, the solidified lineup feels like a novelty, but it’s one that allows for a new kind of development in the band’s sound and purpose. It’s not just about Holappa paying homage to classic ’70s rock anymore — in fact it hasn’t been for some time — but about what this whole group brings to the material.
To wit, the near-proggy rhythmic tension coinciding with the chug of “Needle in My Eye” and the thickened stomp in the penultimate “On Wings of Gold,” which suitably enough seems to take flight ahead of closer “What Have We Become,” that quieter, purposefully understated finish a key-laced showpiece for Hällagård and an occasion to which he every bit rises.
The same could be said of everyone throughout, and though one doesn’t necessarily go to ‘album number eight’ as a landmark happening in the tenure of a given group, Greenleaf engage a somewhat fraught emotional perspective — see titles like “Good God I Better Run Away,” “Needle in My Eye,” “Love Undone” and “Bury Me My Son” — early on and answer with a bit of hope in “Hang On” and “On Wings of Gold” before finally looking back to ask “What Have We Become” at the end. The answer to that question is, at least as far as the album is concerned, that Greenleaf have become a full band with an increasingly complex perspective and a greater depth of sound than they’ve ever had before.
Considering the places Greenleaf have gone stylistically in their time — still under an umbrella of heavy rock, but ever more characteristically so — that’s not saying nothing, but to hear even the downer sway in “Bury Me My Son” as it moves into the bell-of-the-ride hits that start the creeping-into-surge intro of “A Hand of Might,” the subtle turn of defeat to persistence isn’t lost, and the rush of that track helps the band build momentum as they move through Echoes From a Mass‘ second half, with “March on Higher Grounds” arriving not with fanfare but as a melodic highlight nonetheless. Its riff careens deceptively forward and and where one might expect Hällagård to belt it out in the hook à la “Bury Me My Son,” the decision otherwise speaks to how able Greenleaf are at this point to see the bigger picture of what the album needs at any given point.
The flow continues through “Hang On” and “On Wings of Gold” as one would hope, with the latter the longest track at 6:28 and the crescendo for the LP as a whole, bringing together the blues and the heft and the space and putting everything in its proper place without losing the emotional force behind it — that force only getting further prevalence on “What Have We Become,” which seems to call back to “Tides” even as it refuses the temptation to hit into the same kind of largesse. Or maybe that’s just me going back to the start and playing the record again.
Either way, as a fan of Greenleaf, Echoes From a Mass excites not only in the continued quality of its songwriting — Holappa is name-brand as far as that goes — but in the increasing cohesion of its performance and how the production seems to highlight the band simply melting together as a single unit. It is immersive and progressive in a way Greenleaf have not always sought to be, and that too stands as testament to just how special they are, to be trying and achieving new things and building on their past in this manner some 21 years on. One of 2021’s best in heavy rock, no question.
Posted in Questionnaire on March 3rd, 2021 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Arvid Hällagård
—
How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
Well I sing and I write melodies and lyrics. And I think I have been doing it since I was around 10 years old. I started by impersonating singers that I liked. Vocalists like Jim Morrison, Otis Redding, Joe Cooker and many more. Songs just got stuck in my head and I walked around humming for hours without an end. Trying to figure out how and why they sounded so cool. I didn’t even know English back then I just faked the sounds sort of. My dad had a really cool record collection and that’s how I found all that good stuff. Just going through all of his vinyls and CDs.
Describe your first musical memory.
Well there is this Swedish jazz song called “Visa Från Utanmyra.” It’s a hybrid between old Swedish folk music and jazz. I recall my mom singing it when I was a kid. It’s a really beautiful melody. And think that’s my first memory of music.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Oh wow! Hard question, I think maybe it was one of the earlier tours just when Trails & Passes came out. We had been doing alright with around a 100 people per show and then we played Berlin for the second time and 500 suddenly showed up. They knew my lyrics from the first riff and on. That was amazing. Just hearing the crowd call out: “Open up your eyes, don’t trust their lies.” I still smile when I think of that moment.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
All the time, when you’re touring a lot. And at the end you always think: OK this is it. But then you’re home again for a couple of weeks haha. The rush is just too good. I can’t live without it I think.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Hard to say. With Greenleaf it’s sort of like a solid old steam train. It rolls on as long as you put enough coal in it. And it always takes a new path, but slowly. My way of progressing is by listening to new stuff all the time that necessarily does not come from the genre we are playing. I try to find stuff outside the box that inspires me. And in the end that stuff that got down on tape rarely sounds the way you imagined it in your head. But hopefully good enough haha.
How do you define success?
I guess for me a really successful person for me isn’t necessarily someone that’s rich or famous. More a person that is truly happy with what they’re doing and how they live. I dream of having a small house in the countryside, a small but functional studio, tour now and then when you feel the urge. And for the rest of the time just spending time with the family and being creative. That’s maybe my definition of success. Really I’m just happy people dig the stuff we are doing. It’s a rare thing and I feel very humble about it.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Nothing really if you mean concert wise. It’s always an experience. Even if it sounds like dogshit.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
At some point I’d really like to record an old sounding soul record. With horns and everything. Preferably in the US somewhere. On holy land haha. Just for my own personal pleasure. It doesn’t even have to be released, it’s just something that I’ve always wanted to do. Moan my way through the songs, singing my heart out.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Well I think you have to at some degree be happy with what you created. If you are it’s all good. At the end you do it for yourself. Other people enjoying it should be seen as a bonus.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
The summer here in Sweden, it’s been dark and cold for a long time now. Especially with this isolation. I want to be able to jump in the lake and bike through a summer breeze.