Real Sickies “Love is for Lovers” July 9th Stomp Records - Gothic Radio Station

Edmonton’s Real Sickies have released their newest album “Love is for Lovers” via Stomp Records. The band serves up yet another platter full of tasty hooks and punk rock melodies, but this time around with a dash of pop that shows a leap in songwriting craft. Recorded in Edmonton at Rob Lawless’ Physics Lab Studios, the album offers songs that straddle the border between Ramones style aggression and Strokes reminiscent vocal takes. This color-vinyl release includes everything from explosive rockers to heart-wrenching ballads. “Love is for Lovers” is the whole enchilada!

Everybody knows that love is always best when it’s shared with friends and with special guests. It was only natural then, that they would hire Dave Bacon of SNFU to add bass and vocals to their cover of T-Rex’s “Jeepster” and for their own “Think of the Sunshine.” When the band was ready to hit their more heartfelt numbers on the album, they enlisted local indie country sensation Lucette. Her soulful and emotive vocals can be heard on the duet “Give and Take.” “We toyed with the idea of a duet for a bit and it made sense for us to keep it local but open up new doors to people we wouldn’t have otherwise gotten a chance to work with,” says singer Ben Disaster of the collaboration.

The band’s advances in songwriting skill is apparent with this latest release, and with good reason. “The album has been in the works since 2018,” says singer Ben Disaster. “We ended up scrapping songs a few times, I guess maybe more so demoing them and re-demoing them. That wasn’t something we had really done in the past. More go go go go go.” A key part of the equation when listening to their new album is the production influence of Real Mckenzies’ bassist Mario Nieva. Ben and Mario met unexpectedly in a B.C. Ferries restroom while their respective bands were on tour. Ben Disaster says of the encounter, “We hit it off talking about mental health and love and music, basic bathroom talk. Mario ended up playing bass for us on the last night of the tour and we decided to get him to come out and lend a fresh set of ears to the album. That’s when it started taking a new form.”