Sinking to a New High

A newfound relevance overtook me as two of my friends and I took alternating sips from a bottle of Jack Daniels. A fresh transplant to the city of Minneapolis, I was huddled in a crowd of about a hundred people to catch the annual cover show at the Bedlam Theatre on the city’s Westbank.

A group of crust punks had just forced their way through a Metallica set; the lead guitar parts had been adapted to violin. Before that, a spot-on performance of surf legend Link Wray warmed the winter crowd with the aural equivalency of a 90-degree day at the best secret swimming hole in Hennepin County.

I passed the bottle to my left and my attention turned from casual conversation to the trio onstage. They soon delved into a set of covers by seminal punk band Red Cross (or Redd Kross depending on what era of the band’s existence is being discussed). A Red Cross fan, I was delighted to discover that in 2006 in Minneapolis, the band’s music, like me, had found relevance through the screaming amps and raucous drums of three 20-something punks. The trio in question was Sinks, and this was incidentally their first show.

“We were a band for a long time before we even played a show,” guitarist and vocalist Tony Milek said. “We had songs written, but we didn’t have a band name yet.” Though nameless or not, their set that night was wrought with the trashy autonomy of Red Cross riffage, a hint at the future of Sinks. Milek crooned each line word-for-word and certain guitar solos found him writhing to the floor. But as the rhythm section pounded through each measure, Milek didn’t miss a note. I was mesmerized at the band’s poignant versions of the songs and left my friends to get closer to the stage.

Three years and soon to be four records later, Milek, drummer Colin Swanson-White, and bassist Greg Sinchess are still crafting their lo-fi and infectious brand of garage punk. Their sound, homage to Red Cross (obviously), Urinals, and The Sonics, includes intricate guitar work that puts it at the forefront of the genre today.

Their fourth record, to be released this Friday at the Hexagon in Minneapolis, is the band’s third output on local label Fashionable Idiots, with their other record released on Sweden’s Kenrock Records.

From recording their first records completely live with two microphones, to recording their latest releases (still live, except for vocals) in an eight-track studio owned and operated by a friend, Sinks have preferred a sound concurrent with their live performance.

“Stuff that’s recorded in a more blown out, dirty-sounding way…amps turned up loud, it distorts your ear drums because it’s so loud,” Milek said, “I want to make music sound like that.”

This no frills approach is echoed through the band’s actions. The cover of their second record finds them posing with a Little Caesar’s mascot in front of the restaurant; The band holding a pizza, the mascot holding a guitar.

“We saw him on the way to a show and thought it was too funny,” Milek said. “I don’t think he’s allowed to talk, all he could do was nod. I said ‘Hey Little Caesar,’ because I didn’t know what else to call him, ‘Can you hold this guitar? Can we take some pictures with you?’”

Recently, the band’s hijinks had them billed as Nirvana for yet another cover show. “I did a tasteful Kurt Cobain,” Hilek said, “not like zombified with a shotgun hole in my head or anything.”

All antics aside, Sinks will be performing as themselves this Saturday, December 19, at The Aquarium. They will be joined by fellow Minneapolis band Vag with locals The Guys and Shitwizard.

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INFO:

What: Sinks, Vag, The Guys, Shitwizard
Where: The Aquarium
When: Sat, Dec 19, 10 pm
How much: $5, 21+ID