Singles Spotlight:
Time Thieves –
“Biking Through Berlin”

Hello reader,

How are you?

Welcome back, or welcome if this is your first visit to SWT. Please look around the site and stay awhile.

Today, I’m excited to discuss a band that, according to their press release, is a “guitar-driven power pop 4-piece Time Thieves first formed in Chicago in 2015 after Jonathan Pool (guitar, lead vocals) and Mike Oberlin (drums) talked for years about forming a band based on power pop bands like The Rentals, Grandaddy, OVENS, and early Weezer. Having both played in many punk bands over the years, Time Thieves became an exercise in focusing on melody and the craft of song while still retaining the energy and emotion of their punk roots. Time Thieves now includes Tim Reynolds on lead guitar, Mustafa Daka taking over on drums in 2025, and their newest member Micki Harris (they/them) on bass. The band has a shared history of collectively more decades’ worth of Midwestern punk in one band that is decidedly not punk. Previous (and current) bands from these DIY lifers include: Sass Dragons, This is My Fist!, Ambition Mission, Brickfight, Hospital Job, Horrible Things, The Brokedowns, Smoking Popes, Post Child, and many more.”

The current version of Time Thieves, according to their press release, includes, “Along with Harris and Pool, Time Thieves is rounded out by drummer Mustafa Daka and lead guitarist and co-songwriter Tim Reynolds. Daka has played in The Brokedowns, Smoking Popes, and Post Child. Meanwhile, Reynolds is an accomplished graphic designer who creates the artwork for Time Thieves, and he’s a former graphic design manager at Polyvinyl, where he worked with artists such as American Football, Diane Coffee, and Alvvays.”

Time Thieves’ debut album, Space, came out in 2020 on Midwest-based indie label Anxious and Angry, and doesn’t seem to be in print. To those lucky few who got a copy, congrats! On May 6th, 2025, the band self-released an EP of music entitled Come Home EP, and later that year it was paired with the If You Survive EP to form the full-length Come Home/If You Survive album.

Last year we covered one of the songs off the band’s Come Home EP, the fabulous “Forever Drifting.”  And today we’re back with another Spotlight. This time, it’s a lovely song called “Biking Through Berlin.”  Before we listen to the song, let’s explore the press release for it: “He recorded and mixed ‘Biking Through Berlin’ at Kildare Studios and his house before engineer Luke McNeil (The Copyrights, Dan Vapid, Big in Japan) mastered it. The new single is the first of the band’s to feature newest member Micki Harris (they/them) on bass.

Pool said, “When our longtime bass player and friend Annie Saunders moved to Minneapolis this year, we had no idea how we were going to fill her shoes. Micki stepped right in and made themselves an indispensable replacement in no time. I was stoked to work with them on this new recording — it seemed a fitting way to kick off a ton of shows and traveling this year.”

As the press release for the song notes, “This song is a whimsical-ish look at world travel and engaging in a bunch of fantastic activities in exotic locales, set against the backdrop of the knowledge that the world we all live in is rapidly crumbling around us in real time. The melody and majority of the lyrics to this song were fully formed in my head one morning a few months ago after I fell asleep watching Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited. Whimsy? Always have room for whimsy. Never lose that or your sense of humor.  Wes Anderson?  An Anderson-inspired dream? Sign me up.

After listening a bit more, I noticed a few things: “Biking Through Berlin” opens with fantastic guitar playing, laying the foundation for a nice old-school vibe. I’d say 90s in the best indie, alternative, power pop kind of way. Elements of all three. The chorus is earworm-worthy. The vibe is adventurous, with lyrics that explore beyond Western Europe to Asia and an African country. The melody reminds me of listening to Pavement, but the energy is turned up 125%. Kudos. Together, it makes another good Time Thieves song. This will be some folks’ introduction to the band and not for others. Whether it’s your first listen or fiftieth, I know that you’ll enjoy what you’re hearing.

But don’t just take my word for it.  Take a listen to “Biking Through Berlin” for yourself by pressing play below:

Alex M Theel

Co-Founder, Reviewer, Content Creator, Business side, Editor at Scummy Water Tower Productions | Web

Scummy Water Tower Productions co-founder, reviewer, business manager, and editor. Thank you for visiting this site, scummywatertower.com, and YouTube for Water Tower Sessions and SWT Interviews. And all of our socials.
Questions, feedback, or more? Contact me: alex@scummywatertower.com