Sicko (band)

Sicko is an American rock group from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1991. Exceptionally, the three-piece pop punk group has maintained a constant membership for every recording as a band. This line-up is Denny Bartlett (guitar, bass, vocals), Ean Hernandez (guitar, bass, vocals), and Josh Rubin (drums, brother of Aaron Rubin from The Mr. T Experience). Although the band wrote and recorded an extensive catalog of original material throughout the mid-1990s, the group is perhaps best known for its punk-flavored cover of the song "Closer To Fine", originally written and recorded by the folk duo Indigo Girls.

Sicko released four full-length albums and five 7" eps as well as a retrospective CD with unreleased and rare material, a released demo and a tour video. They also appeared on approximately fourteen compilations on labels such as Lookout! Records and Liberation Records. They once exchanged covers with Cub. The vast majority of their recorded output was recorded by Kurt Bloch of The Fastbacks and released on Seattle-based punk label eMpTy Records.[1] One EP and the retrospective CD were released on Mutant Pop Records. Three Sicko songs were featured on the Xbox game Project Gotham Racing 2 alongside artists like The Flaming Lips and Princess Superstar.[2]

During its heyday - roughly 1993 to 1998 - Sicko actively played in numerous clubs throughout the Seattle area, and toured the United States, Spain, and Japan.[3] A typical Sicko set would last about twenty songs lasting about 45–50 minutes, in a blistering, no-interruptions manner reminiscent of the Ramones or The Fastbacks (whose lo-fi style resembled Sicko, possibly in part due to Kurt Bloch's production input in the studio). Denny and Ean would typically switch places on the bass and guitar duties halfway through the set (and often handing each other their instruments while on stage). Sicko often split the bill with other bands that would eventually go on to achieve more national acclaim, including a show with Harvey Danger in 1994 at the (now defunct) Lake Union Pub, and several shows with The Presidents of the United States of America, most notably at a show at the Capitol Hill club Moe's (now Neumo's) on the same night that the Presidents filmed concert footage for the video of their hit song "Lump". The Sicko web site is still up at Sicko.com and was refreshed in October 2017.

On August 26, 2009, Red Scare Industries announced that they would be re-issuing the band's catalog.[4][5]

Sicko reformed to play one show on January 19, 2018 in support of the Seattle Pop Punk Festival.[6]

On September 13, 2019, Sicko released a new compilation "In the Alternate Timeline" on Red Scare Records. In support, Sicko played shows in October and November 2019 in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and New York.[7]