Sicko – You Are Not The Boss Of Me - Blue Vinyl (/250) & Blue With White Splatter Vinyl (/250)

Top Drawer (2024, Reissue) 

30 years after their first full length was released, Sicko is reissuing all of their albums on vinyl and CD. These boys have put out some really important records to me and over the next few Fridays I'm going to be writing about each of them (Maybe not on Black Friday, but we'll see how that goes). In the 90s, Sicko was part of my holy trinity of pop punk bands that also included The Mr. T Experience and Zoinks. I still obsess over all three to this day.

Here we are at the fourth and final Sicko reissue, 1997's You Are Not The Boss Of Me.  I don't know how it was everywhere, but when this album came out it felt like there wasn't as much fanfare as there was for Chef Boy-R-U-Dum, at least in our little world in NJ.  It's not that anyone had ever expressed disappointment in it or anything like that, but it felt like had gone from Sicko being kings of the world to folks being like, 'Oh yeah, I like Sicko.  They have a new album?  That's cool.'  While my fandom was no less fervent when the album was released, it didn't feel like that was the case for everyone. 

Maybe it's because Sicko wouldn't make it back out this way to play any more shows.  Maybe the writing was on the wall that the band was reaching the end of their lifespan.  Maybe because things were moving so fast musically back then that in the two years between albums tastes had started to change.  It could have been any of those things, but what it doesn't change is that looking back on this record all these years later, I still think it's pretty stellar.

The album starts with "Window of Opportunity."  An incredible album opener from a band that sure knows how to open albums.  And it's just full of great songs like "Hipster Boyfriend," "High Hopes" and my favorite Ean song, "Indie Rock Daydream."  If there was ever a song that should be twice as long as it is, that's the one that would get my vote.

While I wouldn't say that "A Song About A Rabbit," "My Sister Is A Werewolf Tonight" or the "Wrathchild" cover would rank as my favorite Sicko moments, they do flesh out the album with a more varied sound.  Though I think back then probably I just wanted more pop punk.  I've also never really liked any kind of metal, so an Iron Maiden cover would always probably lose me no matter the band or the time.

Like all of the reissues, this one sounds great.  We've got two bonus tracks as well, both covers.  The first is the Misfits' "Astro Zombies."  I probably wouldn't care too much about Misfits covers most times, but they do a good job with it, playing it at warp speed.  The second is a cover of "8.6" by Husking Bee, who were another band that I really loved around this time.  This version is sped up a bit, but it fits right into the Sicko canon.

And that's going to wrap up all of the Sicko reissues.  At least until a grand, all encompassing, demos, singles and compilation songs collection is released (which I encourage).  It's great to see these albums out and being talked about again.  They truly mean so much to me and sure I have the original pressings, but you could spend your money a lot worse than having three copies of each Sicko record (well, four if I also count the CDs).  

They'll also be playing a few shows here and there, and while I don't think I'm going to be able to get out to Seattle next year, I'm still happy it's happening and hope it continues to happen every now and again.  Even though those are the days that I will remember, these songs are all too important to just leave in the past.

Sicko – You Are Not The Boss Of Me:
https://sicko.bandcamp.com/album/you-are-not-the-boss-of-me-remastered