THE SIGHTS
''MOST OF WHAT FOLLOWS IS TRUE''
NOV 2010
ALIVE RECORDS
38:13
1. How Do You Sleep?/2:28
2. Hello To Everybody/2:37
3. Honey/3:32
4. I Left My Muse/4:06
5. Guilty/2:40
6. Maria/2:55
7. Happy/2:16
8. Take & Take/2:46
9. Cheers/4:12
10. Tick Talkies/3:20
11. Back To You/3:31
12. (Nose To The) Grindstone/3:50
REVIEW
by Mark Deming
It wasn't long after the Sights released their first album in 1999 that fans and journalists began talking about them as Detroit's Next Big Thing, and when they scored a major-label deal in 2005, the band seemed to be poised for the spotlight. Unfortunately, the Sights missed the brass ring, got dropped, and broke up within the space of two years, but thankfully, guitarist and singer Eddie Baranek has decided to give rock & roll another chance, and 2010's Most of What Follows Is True reveals he hasn't allowed the music business to get in the way of the music, and the result is some of the strongest and most heartfelt music he's recorded to date. Most of What Follows is rooted in the tough, straightforward, R&B-based rock that's the Sights' bread and butter, though the pedal steel on "I Left My Muse" suggests they've also been listening to some classic country sides, and "Maria" is spot-on pure pop. The album is long on great tunes and rock & roll swagger, but Baranek and his latest edition of the Sights (Dave Lawson on bass, Gordon Smith on keys, and Skip Denomme on drums) never sound arrogant or gimmicky -- what comes through most strongly on Most of What Follows is the sound of four guys playing rock & roll because they love it, and even when the music takes a dark detour on "Take & Take" or slips into the blues on "Back to You," there's an honest joy and enthusiasm that infuses the music at every turn. Baranek sings with an unaffected passion and force that's truly impressive while he and his bandmates play with lots of heart and soul and no false moves; this is strong, rootsy, meat-and-potatoes rock & roll played with gravity, skill, and the enthusiasm of true fans. One spin Most of What Follows Is True leaves no doubt the Sights are still a band worth hearing, and if you like to hear great songs played with gravity, skill, and brio, this is one album you'll have been waiting for.
BIOGRAPHY
by Bryan Thomas
The Sights' lead guitarist/vocalist Eddie Baranek and bassist Mark Leahey (who both share songwriting and vocal duties) have been playing music together since the age of 13, forming this band at the beginning of their senior year of high school. They played their first shows together in early 1998. Baranek and Leahey were still under the age of 18 at the time, and were not old enough to remember firsthand the bands that seem to have had the biggest influence on them, including edgy late-'70s punk/new wave acts like the Buzzcocks and early Jam, and certainly did not remember those bands' influences: British mods like the early Who or the Creation. In late 1999, drummer Eugene Strobe came on board, replacing a series of drummers, adding a raucously wild Keith Moon-like quality to their live performances. The youthful trio recorded songs for a debut album, Are You Green?, at Jim Diamond's Ghetto Recorders that same year. The album was issued in 2000 by Spectator Records, but the small Detroit-based indie folded not too long afterwards. Fall of Rome Records in Los Angeles reissued Are You Green? in 2001, as well as The Sights' 2002 follow-up, Got What We Want. Three years later, the band released a self-titled album on New Line/Scratchie. The band returned in 2010 with the release of Most of What Follows Is True.
''MOST OF WHAT FOLLOWS IS TRUE''
NOV 2010
ALIVE RECORDS
38:13
1. How Do You Sleep?/2:28
2. Hello To Everybody/2:37
3. Honey/3:32
4. I Left My Muse/4:06
5. Guilty/2:40
6. Maria/2:55
7. Happy/2:16
8. Take & Take/2:46
9. Cheers/4:12
10. Tick Talkies/3:20
11. Back To You/3:31
12. (Nose To The) Grindstone/3:50
REVIEW
by Mark Deming
It wasn't long after the Sights released their first album in 1999 that fans and journalists began talking about them as Detroit's Next Big Thing, and when they scored a major-label deal in 2005, the band seemed to be poised for the spotlight. Unfortunately, the Sights missed the brass ring, got dropped, and broke up within the space of two years, but thankfully, guitarist and singer Eddie Baranek has decided to give rock & roll another chance, and 2010's Most of What Follows Is True reveals he hasn't allowed the music business to get in the way of the music, and the result is some of the strongest and most heartfelt music he's recorded to date. Most of What Follows is rooted in the tough, straightforward, R&B-based rock that's the Sights' bread and butter, though the pedal steel on "I Left My Muse" suggests they've also been listening to some classic country sides, and "Maria" is spot-on pure pop. The album is long on great tunes and rock & roll swagger, but Baranek and his latest edition of the Sights (Dave Lawson on bass, Gordon Smith on keys, and Skip Denomme on drums) never sound arrogant or gimmicky -- what comes through most strongly on Most of What Follows is the sound of four guys playing rock & roll because they love it, and even when the music takes a dark detour on "Take & Take" or slips into the blues on "Back to You," there's an honest joy and enthusiasm that infuses the music at every turn. Baranek sings with an unaffected passion and force that's truly impressive while he and his bandmates play with lots of heart and soul and no false moves; this is strong, rootsy, meat-and-potatoes rock & roll played with gravity, skill, and the enthusiasm of true fans. One spin Most of What Follows Is True leaves no doubt the Sights are still a band worth hearing, and if you like to hear great songs played with gravity, skill, and brio, this is one album you'll have been waiting for.
BIOGRAPHY
by Bryan Thomas
The Sights' lead guitarist/vocalist Eddie Baranek and bassist Mark Leahey (who both share songwriting and vocal duties) have been playing music together since the age of 13, forming this band at the beginning of their senior year of high school. They played their first shows together in early 1998. Baranek and Leahey were still under the age of 18 at the time, and were not old enough to remember firsthand the bands that seem to have had the biggest influence on them, including edgy late-'70s punk/new wave acts like the Buzzcocks and early Jam, and certainly did not remember those bands' influences: British mods like the early Who or the Creation. In late 1999, drummer Eugene Strobe came on board, replacing a series of drummers, adding a raucously wild Keith Moon-like quality to their live performances. The youthful trio recorded songs for a debut album, Are You Green?, at Jim Diamond's Ghetto Recorders that same year. The album was issued in 2000 by Spectator Records, but the small Detroit-based indie folded not too long afterwards. Fall of Rome Records in Los Angeles reissued Are You Green? in 2001, as well as The Sights' 2002 follow-up, Got What We Want. Three years later, the band released a self-titled album on New Line/Scratchie. The band returned in 2010 with the release of Most of What Follows Is True.
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