Do you guys remember Sicko, the pop-punk band from Seattle who had their heyday in the mid 90s? You might if you’re over 35 and the rest of you should get familiar by checking out their back catalog available digitally through Red Scare.
Anyway, for the pre-initiated, you’ll be pleased to know that Red Scare just released an anthology/”best-of” album “In The Alternate Timeline” containing 19 remastered songs, hand-picked by the band, and I couldn’t be more pleased to bring you a lyric video from one of said tunes. Being “old” and into punk for 25 odd years I can proudly say I owned every Sicko record when I was but a youngster. Join me in my fandom by scoping the lyric video for “The Sprinkler” along with some of the band’s rare(!) upcoming gig dates below.
Oh, and here’s a cool little story about the footage from the band themselves:
Once, on a warm spring evening long ago, 3 pop punkers drove their beloved touring van onto the island of Manhattan, through the streets of Greenwich Village, and played a show at a club called Coney Island High (15 St. Mark’s Place?). We had a lot of fun playing to an at-the-time rare enthusiastic audience. Was that Alan Rappaport from Popkid Records swinging from the overhead pipes while we played? Watch the video and you be the judge. That was quite a display of youthful energy and abandon, looking back on it now. The truth is New York scared us: the size of it, the all-hours press of people, the lack of identifiable traffic lanes, movies like Escape from New York… it was all too much for 3 tense provincials just stepping out into the world. In the event, New York held surprises for us and our misconceptions: an 11pm parking ticket, cafes full of happy chatting people at 2am, and some of the friendliest, kindest, warmest punk rockers we would meet in a 10,000 mile tour across America. We’re looking forward to seeing a few of you again, old friends. Come down to Gold Sounds in Brooklyn, hear the sounds of your youth (ours too!), share your old stories and do-you-remember-when with us a bit. This time we’re leaving the van at home! Love, Sicko.
9/20 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern (with Broadway Calls)
9/21 – Portland, OR @ Twilight Café & Bar (with Broadway Calls)
10/12 – Brooklyn, NY @ Gold Sounds (with Mikey Erg)
10/19 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill (with MTX)
Order the CD/LP here.