Sicbay

Nick Sakes, frontman of Sicbay, commands a devoted following among devotees of Midwestern underground noise rock. In earlier years he handled guitar and vocals for Dazzling Killmen and Colossamite, two widely admired groups that logged countless road miles and issued several albums through Skin Graft. Sicbay fuses the jagged dissonance and rhythmic investigations that marked Sakes’ prior work with fresh emphasis on tunefulness and tightly framed compositions.

Once Colossamite disbanded in the late ’90s, Sakes began collaborating with second guitarist Dave Erb, a Minneapolis resident and longtime acquaintance. Ed Rodriguez—formerly Colossamite’s guitarist and a veteran of Iceburn and the Gorge Trio—learned drums specifically for the new outfit, which took the name Sicbay. In 2001 the band cut its first album, The Firelit S'coughs, for Obtuse Mule Records and hit the road with Jonathon Warnberg on drums. Rodriguez has since returned to the lineup and will perform on the forthcoming second full-length slated for release on 54 40' or Fight! Records.