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The Sicks: Take It All In by MicControl on Monday, March 15, 2010
The Sicks, formed in 2007 in Vancouver, BC, Canada have answered the question, who and when will someone take the place of O.A.R. as they further stray away from their roots-rock/ pop origins? The Sicks combine similar good-time standards with roots-rock grooves and addicting pop hooks.
The 2009 debut release of Take It All In is a celebration of life, good times and great music. As cliche as that seems, it works for The Sicks as they incorporate 'fluffy' acoustic guitar with upstroke strumming, bouncy bass lines, layered electric guitar, standard rock drumming and powerful vocals into their more than average abilities to write a song. With bands like The Sicks, the most crucial element, and the one that unfortunately ends so many careers is the aspect of songwriting. If a band cannot create songs that flow and feel organic, it won't matter how 'cool' their sound is, they will not succeed. Ultimately, The Sicks are decent musicians writing songs that are nicely layered and well developed that transcend the typical roots-rock group.
Each song uses chord structure in proper fashion, as a blueprint, to develop the melodies and harmonies and even allow for tension and resolution between chords to affect the chorus and how hard it is able to hit. It is the lack of the typical '4 chord' structure that keep The Sicks in a higher echelon than their peers- working with chord structures that fit the tune, not just slapping down chords to fill in the space between each chorus. At times, this does mean using a 4-chord progression, such as which is undoubtedly the most pop-oriented song on the album, but makes no effort to hide that fact. It is the very same mind-set that The Sicks maintain that makes them so respectable- they are what they are. The Sicks are not trying to portray something that they are not, such as a jam band just because they sound 'funky' and 'fun' when they clearly are not such an act. In fact, the band does a nice job of 'genre-jumping' as they do display hints of Americana in {attachment_2}- a possible glimpse into the future development of the band.
If this all seems familiar, it should, as O.A.R. was creating similar 'vibes' only 5 years ago, but have since become corporate fanfare as their musical style, image and purpose have changed. The band that only wanted to drink and have a good time, now play shows to underage kids. Luckily this works out great for The Sicks, as their style does reflect early O.A.R., but comes off as an influence or a coincidence as opposed to becoming a carbon copy of another band. Only time will tell if their motives are pure enough to stay the course, developing and maturing in a respectable manner, though to the credit of The Sicks, their songwriting is much stronger than that of O.A.R, even at the early stages of their career.
- MicControl
Sounds of Summer is a celebration of B.C. talent funded and produced by Shore 104.3 FM.
The Song Search contest portion of the Sounds of Summer series began in May and provides budding songwriters and performers a great opportunity to submit their original song for a chance to be showcased on-air and throughout live events in the summer.
After long and hard deliberation, the Shore 104.3 FM team has announced the top 20 finalists and not one but two of them are from Kitsilano – Evan Kennedy and The Matinee.
Take a couple minutes to listen to their songs online and let us know what you think of our up and coming musicians.
Get Gone by Evan Kennedy – www.myspace.com/evankennedyacoustic
- Kitsilano.ca - Rob
Discography
'Sounds of Summer Compilation' released November 2010
'Rollin' (Evan Kennedy) released September 2009
'Take It All In' (The Sicks) released August 2009
'Cynthia EP' (The Sicks) released December 2008
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Bio
"Don't forget to smile and sing a happy song, cause this life we live, no it ain't that long"
Reflecting the positive, life-affirming tone of Evan Kennedy’s music, these lyrics are not mere platitudes—they’re about finding joy and optimism in day-to-day life. Inspired by his life experiences, love, friendships and travel, Evan’s songwriting draws from a rich family history of roots, acoustic folk, rhythm and rock music.
The third generation of Kennedy men to play the Vancouver music scene, Evan follows in the musical footsteps of his dad, Gary—a singer and percussionist with over four decades of local music-making with blues, rock and folk bands, including Sleepy John, Mantra, Risky Business and Skystone. His grandfather, Edwin—a blind, folk/blues harmonica player—shared the stage with the likes of the Rhythm Pals, Sonny Terry and Browny McGee and Charlie Musselwhite.
Growing up surrounded by music—from Gary’s jam sessions and band practices in the basement, to the always-on, multi-genre music of the family stereo—it’s no wonder Evan picked up the guitar at 16 and started to play.
For Evan, music and family are intimately connected; Evan’s full-length, solo-acoustic album, Rollin’, is truly a father-son labour of love. Recorded in Gary’s studio, the album showcases the collaboration of Evan’s songwriting vision with Gary’s multi-instrumentalism (including harp solos on Grampa’s beloved harmonicas). For both father and son, playing and recording together is a gift that transcends the music.
Evan has crammed a lot of success into a relatively brief period of time as a recording artist and gigging musician. For his most recent accomplishment, Evan’s tune, Get Gone, was chosen among the top 20 for The Shore 104.3 FM Sounds of Summer Song Search Contest (2010). Evan competed against over 200 B.C. artists for the honour.
His first band, The Sicks—voted third-best unsigned local band in The Georgia Straight’s 2009 Best of Vancouver—broke onto the Vancouver music scene in 2006 with Evan taking the lead as frontman, singer and songwriter. The Sicks featured Evan’s vocals at his carefree best. The first song Evan ever wrote—We Need More Reggae (found on The Sicks’ 2008 full-length debut studio album, Take It All In) received airplay on 104.3 FM The Shore, where Evan has enjoyed live, in-studio appearances.
Evan gigs his solo-acoustic act at venues all over Vancouver and can regularly be heard at The Wolf and Hound and Mahony & Sons. Besides playing all his own original tunes, Evan creates a unique live performance mixing in lesser known album songs with the songs of today. Evan’s new band, Evan Kennedy & The Nine o’Clock Gunn, deliver a fresh sound that dives deep into a mix of folk and country.
Evan categorizes his music primarily as roots/acoustic folk, though country and other genres can be found in the mix. Non-family influences on Evan’s songwriting include Neil Young, Jim Cuddy and the vocal stylings of Ben Harper.
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