Following in the footsteps of their hometown heroes
Hüsker Dü and likeminded debasers
the Pixies, the members of Minneapolis'
Sicbay take pop hooks and mangle them into guitar insanity. The band's second album,
Overreaction Time, starts off with "Herculaneum," a song with a title and spiraling intensity that would do
Black Francis proud, crossing straight-up punk rock with the noise of
Jawbox. But Nick Sakes and company are also given to prog-y experimentation, like on the rambling "Smoke Stains," and it lends the album a dynamic vibe. "Meet the Jinx" is like some dark, lost track from SST's heyday, and "Jack Pine" is one fierce slab of post-punk surf rock.
Overreaction Time may initially have listeners digging out their old
Pixies records, but by a few songs in, the album solidifies
Sicbay as a seriously demented and unstoppable band in its own right. ~ Charles Spano