Red Scare (2019)
Sicko is an all time favorite band of mine. They came into my life at the perfect time and those records are still in perpetual heavy rotation for me all these decades later. Few bands in the world mastered the craft of pop punk like Sicko. I always felt like they were probably the best of my big three pop punk favorites. Mr. T Experience had been around longer and put out more records, but had more filler on their albums than Sicko. Every Sicko full length is wall to wall classics. Zoinks probably could have given Sicko a run for their money, but once Zac left the band after their first record, it was all downhill for them. That leaves Sicko at the head of the class. Perfect pop punk.
I saw them play at the Pipeline in Newark, NJ in 1996 and of all of the amazing shows I was lucky enough to see in the 90s, it really stands out as one of the true highlights. It was just so much fun. I couldn’t tell you why I didn’t go see them at Coney Island High the next night (or maybe it was the night before, I can’t remember the order), but whatever the reason, it was probably a pretty dumb one in hindsight. Especially since I don’t remember said reason and I remember that Pipeline show like it was yesterday.
At the beginning of 2018, Sicko played in Seattle as part of the inaugural Seattle Pop Punk Festival. My buddy Alan & I went out to see them (and the mighty Bum). What a great trip and what a fun couple of nights of rock and roll. Sicko hadn’t lost a thing all these years later. This past Saturday, Sicko played in Brooklyn. In 2019. It’s not really something I would have expected, but once again Alan & I made our way to another Sicko show. Just like the prior times I got to see Sicko play, it was just an absolute blast. In addition to being a great band with great songs, they’re such nice dudes. So much fun to be around.
The reason Sicko played this show was because of this ‘new’ record. In The Alternate Timeline is a compilation of previously released songs, but don’t call it a greatest hits record. That said, this sucker is packed full of hits. If you want a solid snapshot of Sicko’s material, I think this is a pretty good starting point. You have classics like “80 Dollars,” “Bad Year,” “Kathy’s Dance,” “Believe” and so many more.
Now, that’s not to say there aren’t a few glaring omissions. I don’t see how you summarize Sicko without “The Dateless Losers” (It was the name of their fan club in the 90s) or “Escalator” (They even made a video for this song) but in some ways leaving out these songs is kind of a very Sicko thing to do. Plus I sort of like the idea of someone who has never heard of Sicko buying this album, liking it, deciding to dig deeper and then hearing those songs for the first time. It’s kind of impossible to squeeze all of Sicko’s great songs into one LP. They had way too many awesome ones for that.
The version of the record pictured is the tour only white vinyl version limited to one hundred copies. Only available during a handful of reunion shows. If they are coming to your neck of the woods, you would be a fool to not stop by, pick up a record and catch one of the best pop punk bands that ever walked the earth.
Sicko - In The Alternate Timeline:
https://sicko.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-alternate-timeline
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