Album Review :: Leaving Venus :: Sick of It All EP

Written by: Andrea Janov, CC2K Music Editor

This week we are going to take a break from the usual punk bands that I usually review. There was a time in my life where I loved alternative, Nirvana, Bush, Oasis, and the like. Once I got into punk, those bands kinda faded into the background, but my love for them never faded away.

A few weeks ago I received and email and an EP by a band called Leaving Venus, an indie rock power trio from North Carolina who fuse together a bit of blues, funk, rock, and 90s alternative into their own unique sound. As soon as I played the EP I was taken back to my alt rock years. Sick of it All, has all the great elements that helped the explosion of alt rock in the 90s.

From calm, to pure rock, to reggae/ska, to twangy each track on Sick of it All has its own personality, and shows off the diverseness of their sound.

Comfortably and Flashback are the more calming tracks of the album, and they instantly remind me of the element that I loved so much in Deep Blue Something (yes, I loved Home), a simple inflection of voice that I always found appealing. Vocalist Michael Miller uses a simple inflection throughout that adds a level of intrigue to the tracks, as if he is hinting that there is something more by simply altering the way he says a word or even a syllable.

Parking Lot Trance has and edge of menace to it punctuated with metal guitars and a beat that does not let up until the very end. Murdock, an instrumental with relentless guitars and an intense beat is the stand out track. New Shoes surprises listeners with a a regge/ska style while the last track, Sick of it All, kicks off with the vocals through a killer filter to replicate the sound of an old radio broadcast before they launch into the most southern/twangy track.

My favorite element of the album was the vocals, they tied together the varied styles presented on this EP and were simply intriguing. Now, I am usually a fan of raw imperfect vocals, but Millers’s voice is strong and perfected. Throughout the record it is quiet, subtle, beautiful, haunting, and technical.  

Sick of it All is tight, polished, and has a subtle down south vibe. It is available through Bandcamp for a free download, so if indie alternative is your thing and you totally miss Deep Blue Something, go check them out, you have nothing to lose.