The Sights

In the summer of 1998 – brought together by a slew of disparate-yet-alluring musical reference points – high school friends Eddie Baranek (vocals/guitar), Mike Trombley (drums), and Mark Leahey (bass/vocals) formed The Sights. The trio began playing around their hometown of Detroit shortly thereafter, around which time Trombley headed to California for what would come to be a three-year respite from the band and also the impetus for a revolving door of drummers, bassist and keyboard players. Undaunted, The Sights took to the studio and began recording their debut album, Are You Green?, at Jim Diamond’s Ghetto Recorders in Detroit.

Originally released in June of 1999, Are You Green? was picked up by L.A.-based Fall of Rome Records and re-released the following year. Never big on rest, The Sights went to work on their sophomore album, Got What We Want (released in 2002). With this, the band’s freakishly precocious ability to blend frenetic garage rock, Motown and 60’s pop into something equal parts classic and catchy got them noticed. Got What We Want was released in the U.K. a year later, garnering them some very nice words from both the British press ("Got What We Want is a revelation - a treasure trove of sparky and wildly immediate songwriting." --NME) and the not-so British press ("At last - a new Detroit-garage band that comes in colors." --Rolling Stone). The Sights hit the road for a year of touring both countries, including a 10-week stint sleeping inside the group’s 1991 Ford Econoline van and stealing bagels for sustenance.

In the spring of 2004, The Sights - now including relative newbie Bobby Emmett as organist/bassist - caught the ear of ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, who signed them to his own Scratchie Records (an imprint of New Line Records). And with that, the band headed back to Ghetto Recorders to record their self-titled third LP, The Sights, due out in March 2005. No small feat, the album combines the unobtrusive honesty of The Band with slivers of influence from The Sights’ own personal record collections: Ike & Tina, Solomon Burke, Everly Brothers, Bob Seger, Tim Hardin and all manner of raucous songwriting. The end result is an album that’s classic, not derivative—filled with swagger and deference—and ridiculously catchy. Really.

Discography:

1999 - Are You Green? (Spectator/Fall of Rome)
2001 – The Sights Double 7” (Fall of Rome)
2002 - Got What We Want (Fall of Rome)
2005 – The Sights (Scratchie/New Line)

*****

WHAT THE PRESS HAS TO SAY ABOUT THE SIGHTS

“A kinetic mosaic of sound that pieces together British Invasion pop with classic rock and ‘60s harmonies with ‘70s guitar.”
-Filter

“Compelling. . . . Powerhouse vocalist Eddie Baranek leads his band through organ-fed soul, T. Rex-ish glam, country-tinged ballads and Lennon-esque pop.”
-Paste

  “A”
-Giant Magazine

“THE SIGHTS burns up the dancefloor … [Their] fresh squall of soulful rock and heartfelt harmonies does their legacy proud.”
-Rockpile

“The Sights have released their glittering third album, self-titled, splendid and impossible to ignore for all the best, most exciting reasons.”
-BBC

“The Sights' greatest asset is their fusion of Hammond-swirling psychedelia and muscled, steely rawk … They live the best of both worlds, wielding bluesy riffs like dangerous weapons…What The Sights (and THE SIGHTS) are: only rock ‘n' roll. Blissfully reckless, high voltage, denim blue, sweat-stinging rock ‘n' roll. But damn, do I like it.”
-PopMatters.com

 “The Sights offer one of the most pop-rockin' shows out there.”
-New York Post

“[Frontman] Eddie Baranek … has a musical wisdom far beyond his years.”
-Detroit Metro Times

“THE SIGHTS is an album that lets its instruments speak as much as [frontman] Baranek. . . . The tracks climax in rocking guitar and organ solos that beg the hips to sway and the neck to bend.”
-Salt Lake Tribune

 “You can't help but love The Sights' bombastic-late-60s-garage-pop sensibilities laced with the Farfisa organ, and fuzzed-tone guitar psychedelia.”
-New York Press

“The Sights infuse a modern style all their own in a way that … will turn a whole new generation of music fans on to the blues, R&B, Motown, and the other building blocks of rock & roll.”
-The Tripwire.com

“The early contender for the best album of 2005. A raunchy high-bred power trio psychedelic swirl of blistering guitar, Leslied Hammond, pounding drums along with some big balls and catchy tunes.”
-Creem Magazine.com

****

For more information, please contact Ken Weinstein or Sophie Smith at Big Hassle Media: 212.619.1360 or /