'Bad Girl' is the second of the four tracks on the EP, creeping in with same anticipation that Rebecca sings about, 'While you're looking over from the bar, like your James Dean.'. While James Dean's Rebel Without a Cause was a study of American masculinity I wonder if this song mirrors the same or maybe its more Wanda Woodward badassery. Regardless of perspective musically it bears all the hallmarks of Sick Loves' signature sound with a huge chorus all roaring guitars from Cormac O'Neill and Conor McLoughlin and vocal hooks, even throwing some disco beat embellishment in there. All complimented by some screaming leads in the middle that give way to a well timed drum break. Like James Dean said "Racing is the only time I feel alive", I get the feeling that music could be Sick Loves racing.
I love when a song has a drum hook in it, maybe that comes from being a drummer myself but as mentioned in a previous review art is participatory and what you bring to it informs it as much as the original intent. 'My Man' is one such song. Sean O'Connor's drums are the heart beat of Sick Love, they serve the song but they're always clever providing push and pull at all the right times. 'My Man' is a perfect example of that pushing forward with crashing cymbals and battering seven shades out of his snare and pulling back to help build to a crescendo at the end of the song. When the band let loose at the end of the song I fully believe when Rebecca sings 'You're my man, if I can't have ya, no one can.'. Her voice sounds incredible and desperate and emotive in all the best ways. Having seen this song live it takes on a life of it's on as the band build towards this and finally let it go. Nothing short of amazing.
So far the EP has been a collection of previously released singles but track 4 on the EP gives us some new material in the colour and the shape of 'I'm So (Fucked Without You)'. I'd imagine that there's probably a radio edit of this song somewhere but I really can't imagine something conveying the raw truth and sentiment of the original. Sometimes I think swearing in a song can sound juvenile but that's definitely not the case here and it feels like a natural end to a love letter of an EP, written in blood and signed with a kiss. Rock is best when it's honest, it comes from a real place and it's laid out for all to see, 'I'm So (Fucked Without You)' gives us that in that spades. Rebecca is an incredible vocalist and it's never more evident than on this track, her voice is given time and space to display her range, the break around 3:02 is particularly great. Similarly the band are on fire while they hammer away, again Sean's drums push and pull like grabbing someone's jacket only to push them away, mimicking the sentiments expressed in the vocals, which intentional or not is really clever. The guitars of Conor and Cormac compliment each other making it huge and when they follow and accentuate the vocal melody it's a nice touch with a searing guitar tone that feels like you're being branded with the melody it'll stick with you so long. 'I'm So (Fucked Without You) is the strongest song on the EP, which given the company is a strong statement, the song seems to serve as the coalescence of the ideas presented in the previous songs and elevates them higher yet again. An excellent closer to the 'Baby, It's You' EP and one that seems to book end the current run of singles.
'Baby, It's You' is 4 tracks of total rock and roll sass and swagger with buckets of attitude and snarl. The song writing is so strong from start to finish, propulsive drums, walls of guitar, melodic and bent over backwards lead lines with bass from Noel Perry and Darragh Cullen (on Bad Girl) anchoring the songs and providing a melodic counter point to the charge being lead by Becca's frankly amazing vocals. As previously mentioned each track on here bar 'I'm So (Fucked Without You)' has been previously released as a single but with each single bearing a similar art work and helping create an aesthetic that visually helps tie each single together into the larger release, which is a nice touch and one that only further accentuates how much the band think about how they themselves and their music are presented. That kind of thought process and consideration is not something to be taken lightly.
Sick Love are poised to be truly massive and with songs like 'I Want You All Of The Time' and 'I'm So (Fucked Without You)' its impossible to see why they wouldn't be, easily one of the best bands coming out of this country. If you're not already savvy to their sound it's time to sit up and pay attention to what Sick Love are trying to tell you.
Can you tell me what first inspired you to make music, what made you want to write songs and join a band?
We’ve all grown up with so much music around us and a love of music from our parents, so I think that sparked the interest early on. The lads all went to primary and secondary school together and did guitar lessons together. They’ll proudly say how the 6th class talent show was their first taste of being rockstars in a band together, and that’s how it all started. I started writing in my bedroom at around 13 when I learned to play keys and was flying solo for a long time, until I met the guys at some local gigs we were playing and I ended up joining the band with them.
What bands posters did you have upon your bedroom wall and what was the first the album you ever bought and why?
I would love to say something cooler, but my memory of my bedroom walls is of the classic embarrassing schoolgirl of the 90’s/early 00’s. I had posters of Britney Spears, Hilary Duff, S Club 7, Backstreet Boys, all of the greats. I’m pretty sure the first album that I ever bought was one from Britney Spears. Thank god I had a cool, slightly older friend that had great taste in music and she got me into No Doubt, so the first “grown-up” album I bought was Tragic Kingdom.
Sick Love came out of the gate swinging, you seemed to arrive a finished product with a huge debut single ‘Are You Ready’, a strong team behind you and a live studio video that went that captured the Sick Love energy. Can you you talk about what went on behind the scenes before you unleashed Sick Love on the world and how important was this time to the band?
We had been playing under another name with a similar line-up for a good few years and it was going relatively well doing everything on our own. In 2017 we had a great year of playing gigs and festivals, then when the new year came around it made sense to take it to the next level with a really strong team behind us. So when our manager came on board it felt like the perfect time to rebrand as Sick Love and come out stronger, more polished and extremely sure of the direction we wanted to head in. It was definitely still us, but a much more realised version of ourselves with the right people behind us and we felt ready to hit the ground running.
To date you’ve released 7 singles, can you tell us about recording these, were they all done in the same place, same time or was it a matter of different places/times? How important is the space you record in, does it influence the energy in the song?
A lot of the songs so far have been recorded all over the place and at completely different times! The one thing that remained the same has been our producer James Darkin. We've been working with James since 2014 and he was a big influence in our early days as a band, finding our feet and trying to figure out what our sound was. Some of the songs are recorded in big studios, but most of the new EP was actually recorded in our rehearsal room by Conor and mixed by James. For us, it’s all about the people you work with and the energy in the room when you're recording and writing. It’s always nice having the luxury of a fancy live room, but without the right person behind the desk it just doesn't compare.
‘Gun in Your Pocket’ has over a million streams now which is insane! Congrats on that! Was the decision to release singles a conscious one at the start rather than an EP or album, what was the thinking behind that? With a number of singles under your belt are there plans for an album or EP release in the future, do you think these are still relevant formats in the age of Spotify?
I think releasing singles for us was just a good way to get our name out early, by releasing things often and putting out new music regularly. With the new EP, the plan was initially to just keep going with the singles but then we realised how well those songs fit together as a package and decided to put it out. We definitely still believe in the album format and I think a lot of people still love it even in the digital age we’re living in. You can definitely see that which how much people are still collecting vinyls. We’re currently in the process of completing our debut album and it’s so exciting, I think it’s something that every band really strives for even to this day and it feels really good.
I notice in your promo photos the band is a 4 piece but live you’re a 5 piece. Refused done a similar thing due to not having a permanent bass player. Is this the case with Sick Love, do you’ve Spinal Tap issues with bassists?
We may have had some Spinal Tap issues in the past for sure! But we’re really lucky now to have some amazing session bassists that have played and recorded with us over the last few years. It’s just worked for us to be a four-piece since we’ve known each other for so long and are really on the same page creatively. It’s tough to bring someone new in when they don’t know the history of the band, but we’re really lucky to have gelled so well with the bassists that we work with.
Can you talk about developing the aesthetic of the band. Even looking back over the art work from your first release to the last three it seemed to be slowly evolving and taking steps towards the aesthetic you’ve presented with the last three releases.
One of the things that was super important to us when rebranding as Sick Love was the aesthetic. Rock bands aren't usually known for style or being polished, but that’s something that we felt really strongly about. I grew up being obsessed with Blondie and Debbie Harry, so I loved the idea that you could be a rockstar and still look slick and sexy. As strange as it can be sometimes, I actually love social media and creating a vision with the artwork, clothing, colour schemes and we’ve worked really hard on developing that. We collaborated with an amazing photographer Martha Mac Nulty on the concept for all the artwork on the EP. The pink colour scheme really fits the tone of the songs and all of the shots represent the songs perfectly.
Can you tell us about the Sick Love song writing process, is there one main song writer, can you talk about your approach to writing melodies and lyrics? I notice Sick Love tend to stay away from socio-political topics ( this is no bad thing in my eyes) was that a conscious decision especially when currently people seem to look for that element or message in bands lyrics?
We generally write all together in our rehearsal room, it usually fosters a great energy and gets the creative juices flowing. I write all the lyrics and melodies, sometimes I’ll come in with some lines or most of the time I’ll start getting a sense of the song in my head when the guys start jamming and coming up with ideas. It kind of goes in phases with themes and lyrics for me. There was a time where I used to write a lot of politically-based songs, you can see this in Soccer Mom which is about anti-establishment and with Gun In Your Pocket which is about the #MeToo movement. But at this time I'm just really enjoying writing songs that make me feel good. I personally don’t think music should be taken too seriously and I just like writing what comes out of me in the moment, sometimes it has a message and sometimes it’s just fun. I’m not too concerned about what other people think makes a song great, whether it’s deep enough or poetic enough or political enough, I just like making music that I like.
Being in a band comes with its own hardships so what drives you to make the music you make, is the a band a source of catharsis?
We always say that if we didn’t love what we were doing then we would never do it, because being in a band can have so many highs and lows. But the highs are so incredible that it keeps us going and keeps us hungry for more. It’s such an amazing feeling being in a band with your best friends, creating music that you love and then getting on stage and seeing people there for you singing your songs. I think that’s what keeps us going, there’s nothing that really compares to the rollercoaster of being in a band.
The scene both north and south seems to be stronger than ever, is there anyone you’d want to shout out to?
Down South I would say Fangclub, they've been a band that really helped us out early on before we were even Sick Love. They gave us our first support slot in Whelan’s and so much advice over the years, we’ll always be so appreciative for them giving us the time of day when we were still coming up. And then up North, gotta give a shoutout to our mates in Sugarwolf that we toured with last year. We hadn't met the guys before the tour and we hit it off so well, let’s hope we’ll eventually get to play together again.
And finally in the vein of Rob Gordon. What are your Top 5 favourite records.
This is almost impossible to decide between four of us that have so many different tastes! So I’m gonna say these are the top 5 albums that have shaped what Sick Love is today and had a big impact on us as a band.
Queens of The Stone Age - “Villains”
Blondie - “Parallel Lines”
Bikini Kill - “The Singles”
Dorothy - “ROCKISDEAD”
K.Flay - “Every Where Is Some Where”
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