At last -- a new Detroit-garage band that comes in colors. Got What We Want was cut in 2001 with a different lineup, but it affirms what I saw at recent Sight-ings in Texas and New York: Guitarist Eddie Baranek sings like he has a good case of Badfinger and writes with the R&B concision of '65 Motown, while the pools of mellotron and circus organ in "Don't Want You Back" and "Sorry Revisited" carry the '68 stamp of the day-glo Pretty Things and Michigan's own forgotten SRC.

David Fricke / Issue #921

Anyone who thought Detroit's rock'n'roll production line was in danger of seizing up for another 20 years in the wake of The White Stripes is in for a real shock when they hear this.

The Sights are four 20-something kids fronted by the sharpy talented Eddie Baranek. Despite their comparative youth, this is already their second album following on from 1999's rough and ready 'Are You Green?'

Still, what a difference a couple of years can make. 'Got What We Want' is a revelation - a treasure trove of sparky and wildly immediate songwriting.

Taking its cue from scuzzed '60s beatpop, it manages to cram echoes of Supergrass, The Who and (soon-to-be-hip-again) '70s rockers Humble Pie into its 11 tracks. It's the coolest and most accomplished rock'n'roll record to come out of Detroit since 'White Blood Cells'.

James Oldham

Got What We Want is a melodically complex and accomplished album, and ample evidence that this young band from Detroit have a tacit understanding of what made primal sixties garage-rock and early seventies power pop so exhilarating and memorable in the first place. Not only do the Sights seem like they've educated themselves with repeated listenings to albums from a Rock History 101 syllabus, but they have an audible confidence and forcefulness that one usually only finds in a band who've been playing together for many years. Indeed, they have: Eddie Baranek (vocals/guitars) and Mark Leahey (bass/vocals) have been making music together since 1995, when both were classmates at DeLaSalle Collegiate High in Detroit. In October 2001 -- a few short months before they were to enter Ghetto Recorders to record this sophomore effort for L.A.'s Fall of Rome -- Baranek and Leahey made the decision to replace longtime bandmate Eugene Strobe (now playing with the Witches and the Alphabet) with a new drummer, Dave Shettler (ex-Moods For Moderns). This last-minute switch-out might have slowed the band's momentum, but now seems to have renewed their resolve to successfully accomplish the task at hand. Consequently, Got What We Want is a concentrated and well-produced group effort with strong and varied songs. The super-charged power pop numbers -- "Don't Want You Back", "Be Like Normal", "Sweet Little Woman" -- are rife with crunchy guitars, catchy percussive elements and memorable hooks. Meanwhile, the title song, "Got What We Want", and the last track, "Nobody", recall the bombastic heaviosity of Mott the Hoople, Humble Pie and Led Zeppelin at their most glorious. The main riff from the blues-soaked "Nobody", in fact, plays like an homage to Zeppelin's "How Many More Times?" (the song -- with lyrics purloined from Albert King's "The Hunter" -- may have also provided the Sights with their moniker). There's also an enjoyable assortment of keyboards on the album; drummer Dave Shettler contributed Hammond organ and swirling mellotron (in March 2002, the Sights added organist Nate Cavalieri to their lineup). The fathoms deep Got What We Want should provide the Sights with a promising and (hopefully) propitious future once the world discovers its many treasures.

The city of Detroit has birthed more garage-rock-oriented bands in the past few years than a horny queen buzzing about a beehive. And surprisingly, while most of these bands are frantically trying to jump on the perpetually over-hyped retro bandwagon, Detroit’s The Sights have been developing their rock ‘n’ roll swagger for quite some time. Simply put, The Sights have studied their rock ‘n’ roll history with acute eyes (and ears), and it shows on their sophomore release, Got What We Want, in leaps and bounds. With new drummer Dave Shettler and the strength of singer/guitarist Eddie Baranek’s glorious songwriting, The Sights have become the fully realized power-pop tornado we all knew they would become, even back when they had to skip out on gigs early to wake up for school the next morning. Sure, everything from The Jam, Humble Pie, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones is referenced here; but with this record, The Sights have climbed to the top of the D’s rock heap, hoisted up their guitars, and have proclaimed themselves kings.

Reason to Buy: Sub Pop, here they come!

Best Listening Experience: “Be like Normal” and its go-go sway.

Ryan Allen

Ha ha! I know I should probably be talking about the music, but I gotta admit, the first thing I noticed about this disc was the ridiculous picture of one the band members trying to imitate his cat’s facial expression on the CD traycard, which is just begging to be lampooned in this mag’s 9mm Photoshoot column.

Once I actually got around to popping the CD in the player, the first band that came to mind was Cheap Trick. The two bands don’t sound especially alike, it’s just that The Sights, like Cheap Trick, so deftly combine the raw, sleazy swagger of classic Stones with the sterling pop sensibilities of the Beatles. Usually Beatles vs. Stones is an either/or, but in some cases, such as this one, the two can comfortably cohabitate. Or, if that’s not obscure and record-geeky enough, how’s this sound: "Think Girlfriend-era Matthew Sweet meets The Action meets Deram-era Small Faces"?

Seriously though, Got What We Want is chock-a-block full of catchy pop tunes without all of the rough edges filed off, which means it’ll probably be too rock for the Elephant 6 crowd (they do, after all, spend quite a bit of closer "Nobody" threatening to break into Zep’s "How Many More Times") but too pop for the In The Red/Estrus gee-rage folk. I hope I’m wrong ’cause this is pretty much end-to-end terrific, but if I am right, well, it’s their loss, so fuck ’em.

Already a favorite among reviewers across the country, The Sights are going to blow everyone away with this album. Got What We Want is a mindblowing collection of frenzied, head-expanding pop music that will revive your senses and stay permanently embedded in your consciousness. This is a "hit" record in the truest sense of the word. All of the tunes are direct hits. The energetic performances on this album present a trio (actually now a quartet) who have just hit their prime. The band consists of guitarist/vocalist/main songwriter Eddie Baranek, drummer Dave Shettler, bassist Mark Leahey, and organist Nate Cavalieri. Baranek combines the best elements of pop/rock from the 1960s on through to the present...and makes them his own. This band's tunes possess a jolt that is sadly missing from many of today's popular bands. Songs like "Don't Want You Back," "Sorry Revisited," "Last Chance," and "Nobody" will be spinning repeatedly in the minds and CD players of pop fans worldwide. Expect to hear a LOT about these guys in the very near future...as they are definitely a cut above the rest. Superb. (Rating: 5+)

NEWCITY CHICAGO

Detroit kids the Sights break that city's mold a bit by eschewing the strictly gearhead-fueled garage rock and looking a little deeper into the sixties for inspiration. A trio of mop-haired, very young men, the Sights combine the best of California's psychedelic pop with mod, a little sixties punk rock and a whole lotta hook power. The band's second release, "Got What We Want" (Fall of Rome Records), benefits from the production of Jim Diamond (Mr. Detroit producer guy), who helped them find an even keel between strict revivalism with modern songwriting acumen. Blah blah blah. This record is just plain fun, from the bouncy, sugar-crusted opener "Don't What You Back" to the punchy and almost heavy title track to purified sixties organ-air of "Sweet Little Woman." Anyone into straight rock music with its tongue buried firmly in the sixties won't leave disappointed.

Dave Chamberlain

fufkin.com

In the 18 months or so since their debut record, the young bucks who make up The Sights just keep growing. They sing better, they play better, and, possibly as a result, they write even better. Beyond all that, the band not only seems to know the requisite ‘60s rock and pop moves, they have a feel for true rock and roll.

What really rules about this record is how it manages to encapsulate the entire experience of ‘60s R & B oriented rock in about half-an-hour. From primitive R & R to pop tunes with a beat to bluesy jammers, The Sights cover all bases. So "Sorry Revisited", which is a psychedelic near-drone rubs shoulders with "Be Like Normal" with a straight Mersey dance beat and basic two note guitar riff (played in different keys, for variety, y'know) that carries the tune until the chorus. "Revisted" comes close to territory explored by Photon Band and shows the band's remarkable sophistication. There is an instrumental interlude with a spooky chorus of voices that provides a counterpoint to the heavier verses. "Normal" melds pre-Nuggets crunch with a melody worthy of Ray Davies. Meanwhile, a few songs are more post-Nuggets. "Sick and Tired" falls into a Yardbirds territory, with a back porch blues chord progression and slightly greasy feel. The band doesn't stray too far from rock and roll, and the rousing chorus is not based in any Delta roots. Moving further along, "Nobody" is heavier. Frontman Eddie Baranek shows that he has really been studying the past. This goes more in the direction of early Fleetwood Mac, exploding into a frenzy that is evocative of Humble Pie and early Led Zeppelin. As previously stated, the band's feel for this music is thrilling. These aren't blues rock pretenders -- the smoke and the fury comes through loud and clear. While the exciting blues rock of the late ‘60s morphed into tiresome boogie rock in the ‘70s, the bluesier songs on this disc rekindle the excitement that so many rockers felt circa 1968, taking the blues and giving it a new spin.

That this same band can turn around and make an unabashedly cute ditty as "Everyone's a Poet", and have the same authenticity as when they cut loose -- not many can make the transition from shit hot to Brit pop so seamlessly. In a sense, The Sights are a retro take modern rock expression of the transition from teenager to adult. They are callow enough to pine like a zit-faced kid on the ultra-light pop of "It'd Be Nice (to Have You Around)", while sounding more grown up on "Got What I Want", which is simply lust forcefully expressed in a basic blues fashion.

The final thing that elevates this album to a year-end best of contender is that The Sights never aim for less than the best. Each song doesn't just settle for one nice idea, but is teeming with nifty wrinkles. It's as if each song was designed to get AM (or in the case of the blusier tunes, free form FM) radio play -- concise and catchy. Throw in the passion and enthusiasm, and what more could you want?

Mike Bennett

These Detroit kids have what you need. This trio’s sophomore release boasts an authoritative distillation of garage rock, psychedelia and prodigious ‘60s-inspired pop. The threesome aren’t old enough to remember their most direct influences (Buzzcocks, early Jam, Cheap Trick) and certainly weren’t around for artists that those bands emulated (early Who, the Kinks, the Beatles). But the Sights have studied hard, educating themselves on super-charged power-pop and have produced a confident, exuberant album that isn’t nearly as derivative as it should be. The Sights’ advantage over like-minded performers such as the White Stripes, the Detroit Cobras and the Dirtbombs is an ability to change up at a drop of a pin. They can snarl like Iggy and the Stooges (the abrasive title track), can resemble Ray Davies (the joyous "It’d Be Nice") and aren’t shy from appropriating lyrics and riffs from blues icons and ‘70s arena rockers. "Sick and Tired" is like Exile on Main Street reduced to a four-minute masterpiece, while "Nobody" recalls classic English hard rock, in particular the ending, which steals some bars from Led Zeppelin’s "How Many More Times" (call it an homage). You shouldn’t lump together the White Stripes, Hives or the Strokes, but if you love those musicians, then Got What We Want is for you. Grade: A

Doug Simpson

Montreal Mirror

Joining the fray of shaggy-headed ’60s-mongers, this Detroit quartet is the newest and youngest to emerge from the hot rock city scene. With noted producer Jim Diamond at the helm, the Sights get all macho on our ass with muscular garage riffs and songs about head, but are equally quick to tackle Herman’s Hermits sweetness (“It’d Be Nice”), Beach Boys piano-plonkin’ pop (“Everyone’s a Poet”), trippy rawkage (“Be Like Normal”) and bluesy laments (“Sick and Tired”). Flawed but fun, these are kids to look out for come album 3. 7/10

Lorraine Carpenter

High Bias

The Sights' second album Got What We Want draws most of its impetus from the 60s, from the R&B updates of the early Rolling Stones to the frazzled garage psych/punk of Love and the tuneful power of the Who. Which is strange, when you think about it, as Sights principals guitarist/vocalist Eddie Baranek and bassist Mark Leahy are barely old enough to have been shaving long. But the Detroit trio's relative youth allows it to assay this approach with enthusiasm and a sense of freshness absent from most 60s-obsessed combos. Gnarly rockers like "Don't Want You Back," beat-happy ravers like "Sweet Little Woman," pop confections like "Everyone's a Poet" and blues jams like "Sick and Tired" sound familiar but not retro, reminiscent of past rock & roll styles but not imitative. In fact, the most slavish homage on the record is the final track, the bluesy screamer "Nobody," which copies the group's Motor City homeboys the White Stripes more than anyone from the Flower Power era. Besides, Baranek and Leahy write sharp little songs and play them like there's nothing in the galaxy they'd rather be doing. It's nice to know the 60s can still inspire the young'ns without inducing them to become copycats.

Michael Toland

Bleed Music

The Sights hail and wail from Detroit. You might have heard of it.

For me it almost drowned them with preconceptions before the first listen (which upsets me, yet I suppose without some preconceptions – of the arts at least – we’d all spend too much time wading through bad music, watching moronic, insulting TV, and paying to sit through Tom Hanks films).

Yet on the whole The Sights do sound different to most of their Detroit contemporaries, and also on occasion succeed by tapping into the same furious and righteous passion that has coloured the music of the Motor City’s better bands recently. (Final track here, which counts for about a fifth of the 35 minute playing time, is as good as anything Jack White’s written).

But let’s be linear about this. Play pressed, the album begins with “Don’t Want You Back”; the guitars fizzle with “DETROIT”, the drums and bass rumble “MICHIGAN” and the instant reaction is a mix of jaded anticipation. But detached, arrogant listening can be shattered very quickly. All it takes is a noise, a lyric, something out of the ordinary, and the extremely saccharin melodies that appear here were certainly unexpected. Its sweet harmonies, Phil Spector sleigh bells, backwards effects; then with “Be Like Normal” (two songs in) the first killer chorus appears. The Sights are obsessed with the poppier side of 60s psychedelia and garage, free of the dangerous, outlaw element of bands like The Sonics, ? And The Mysterians or the 13th Floor Elevators, but filled instead with the beautiful melodies of The Zombies.

The sweeping organ-led “Sorry Revisited” is next (Eddie Baranek’s lyrics and song titles are introspective, complaint rock yet at least he deals with definites) and it becomes apparent The Sights are great at knocking out 2-minute pop songs. Last year’s excellent single “Say Say” showed promise that is more than fulfilled here. “It’d Be Nice (To Have You Around)” echoes the Beach Boys in its arrangement, but suffers as it brings up memories of countless dull 60s groups bashing away at their instruments with cheesy grins and McCartney head wobbling.

Despite not being indicative of the rest of the album, the best moment by far is the White Stripes-esque aforementioned final track, “Nobody”, which stops and starts and yelps and rocks in all the right places. It’s exhilarating, and a fine end to proceedings. Stop pressed, and mild distraction has given way to complete attention.

Stu Egan

Good pop music will never go out of style and living proof of this is the young Detroit trio The Sights. Crafting catchy pop hooks into songs that have you singing along is their specialty. “Got What We Want” is the second effort from this threesome, and they have come a long way from their debut offering, Are You Green. The ‘60s pop flavor that first caught my ears is still there, but occasionally wanders away into ‘70s explorations on this record. The song “It’d Be Nice (To Have You Around)” is one of stand-out tracks here, reminiscent of a Beach Boys-style pop tune. “Everyone’s A Poet” recalls U.K. popsters Jellyfish. On most of the eleven tracks one can clearly hear the influences and inspirations behind the band, but they turn this into their own style. While it’s almost impossible these days for any young band to not sound familiar, The Sights wear their appreciation for music past well. The pacing of the album was the only thing that caught me off guard, changing direction every other song didn’t flow as well as it should have, but overall, the album shines. Keep an eye on The Sights.

Sue Summers

For my money...Motor City dwellers The Sights, have them both beat for sheer sonic mayhem. They can be as Merseybeat sweet as The Knickerbockers one minute ("If That's What You Want"), mix The Outsiders ("Time Won't Let Me") with slashing "Love It To Death" Alice Cooper guitars ("People"), rock like The Sweet ("Say Say"), and stalk the grooves like famous son Iggy Pop let loose in the aisles with the blusey "Nobody." Fuzz never sounded so good.

Brad Harvey/Issue #50

Yeah! The Sights show the world that they really can do it all by mixing it up for their official recording debut on Fall of Rome. They drive home four tracks chock full of glam-boogie, powerful 60s influenced pop (with the inevitable Detroit twist) and dare to alienate the squares even further with a heavy blues number. Very heavy and very right on! Their debut long-player for Fall of Rome will be out in the next few months and some extensive touring is in the works so do not miss them. Rest assured you will regret it if you do.

Colin Bryce

Designer Magazine

Like many of the bands in the Detroit scene, the Sights have been doing their own thing for years only to be thrust into the media spotlight this year. What separates the Sights is they're not just another cliched garage band and their 2nd album "Got What We Want" brings in influences from the past 40 years of classic pop records. As the band finished their debut tour with the Hiss we caught up with the band to get the low-down.

Q: You've just completed your debut tour of the UK with the press frothing at their mouths. Did you just find yourself soaking up the musical history when you were in Liverpool, Manchester or London?

A: Of course being at different hubs of English music was mind-blowing. I remember walking down the street in Liverpool drunk as hell and I couldn't stop thinking about the footage from that Beatles anthology and the quotes from Paul talking about how they would ride their bikes across town to find "new" chords. Walking though Liverpool its impossible not to ask yourself "Was this the street?" I wish there would have been a little more time to soak in some of that stuff and do the cheesy tourist things, but, even so the experience of it was incredible.
 

Q: Taking it back to when you formed the band at High School. Could you give us a potted history up to the present day and pleases tell us you didn't play those cheesy American Proms where they crown the Prom King & Queen?
A: Eddie formed the band in high school - as he always says - "to get girls and free beer." I love the story where he played a gig in the Garden Bowl (this Detroit bar) and the next day had the first day of school and he showed up to chemistry or whatever all hungover. From high school the band has changed a million times - Eddie has kind of  replaced people with other players who might be better suited for the band and what he wants to do. The four guys in the band now have known each other in one capacity or another for years - playing in side projects and going to shows together and all that. Though the Sights have never
played a high school prom we probably would if we were invited. It would be funny.
 

Q: It's very easy to become complacent when yet "another Detroit band" is mentioned, but you guys have avoided the pigeonhole of being another Detroit band. How would you describe the bands sound and what were you listening to growing up?
A: Well, simply enough we are not a garage band. It isn't hard to avoid the tag of "garage" when that isn't what you are. In that respect I guess we are also not a goth band or a country band....Alot of the bands influences have changed over the years - probably early on it was more like the Jam, the Nazz, Small Faces....stuff like that. Now we listen to The Band, Dylan, Neil Young as well. And everyone in the band has their own favourite list of influences that include everything from the Zombies and Flying Machine to Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles.
 

Q: Over the years you've soaked up pop music as much as classic rock bands. What would you say to the rock purists who say Pops a dirty word and it should be avoided at all times?
A: Rock purists are some annoying motherfuckers, no matter what they are saying.
 

Q: You've always said the bands sound is constantly evolving because you still haven't found your sound yet. The recent live shows have a looser feel than "Got What We Want" and extended jamming is the order of the day. Do you feel you've found your sound yet or will the next album be totally different again?
A: As time goes on I think we get closer and closer to finding a sound. But then again I think it is really important for bands to keep evolving and not settle into one sound and get stale or over comfortable with one sound. The next album will be different from Got What We Want because of all the shit that has happened to us since the time the songs for that record were written. You will be able to tell its the same band though.....
 

Q: Going back to the whole Detroit scene. Back home does it feel like something special is happening or do you stand back and think it's the same as it's always been?
A: In some ways its very much the same. Great bands in Detroit right now - like the Henchmen or the Paybacks or Dirtbombs - they would be doing what they are doing right now regardless of the level of attention that they were getting - and they have been doing what they are doing now for a number of years. In that way it is the same as its always been. We haven't been home a whole lot - but I definitely think that things have changed a little just because some people get caught up in the money that can me mined out of the situation right now or other kind of egotistical vices. To be honest you only get little hints of that -
and soon enough someplace like Orlando is going to be the new Detroit which was the new Seattle anyway so it will all be forgotten about.
 

Q: Over here in the UK the mainstream music press is looking over to Detroit, New York and Australia following the likes of the White Stripes, The Strokes and the Vines respectively. Over in the States is there the same buzz about the UK bands and what have you discovered while you're over here?
A: There isn't really the same kind of buzz about UK bands. Maybe Supergrass....because they deserve it....but there really aren't many bands that get a ton of hype in the UK that get it in the US - either american of British bands.  And - though other guys in the band may get miffed at my honesty here - the Vines and Strokes are utter bullshit compared to what the White Stripes are doing. Listen to the songs and that is obvious.
 

Q: What's next for the Sights after this jaunt in the UK and when can we expect you back over here?
A: Right now that is all getting worked out. We do a month in the US with the Datsuns, then we might do the US again with the Greenhorns or come back to the UK. To be honest things are really up in the air right now - there are proposed trips to Japan and Australia in the works and nothing is really sorted out. The UK is definitely the most fun so far for us so I expect we will be back real soon.

Daily Trojan

The idea of a breaking, new music "scene" in the world these days is a ludicrous premise. The coincidence that three or four moderately successful bands make their way out of one city or region is more a probability than a rarity.

With the Internet and file-sharing at an all-time high, it's not even likely that those bands coming from those suburbs or the inner city will even play the same kind of music. Influences travel over nations and the discerning music aficionado can pick and choose what they like, often not even realizing that their new favorite band is from Iceland or their own backyard.

Seattle and grunge music in the '90s, New York City and hip-hop in the late '70s, England and the British invasion in the '60s; those are all music scenes. Detroit is not a music scene.

The Sights incorporate more sounds from their musical grandfathers, the Motown movement centered in Michigan's largest city in the 1960s, than they do from the slew of bands to most recently come out of their neighborhood.

"We get grouped with the other bands out of Detroit like the White Strips and the Von Bondies and the Dirtbombs, but we don't sound anything like them. I mean, we play rock 'n' roll, but it's just not the same," said Eddie Baranek, the band's lead singer.

"We're not afraid to use pop harmonies," Baranek continued, and it's these glycerin-sweet sounds that really distinguish The Sights from the garage rock for which their hometown has become so famous. It's also what might make them the next big thing.

The group Baranek said he most identifies with and takes greatest influence from The Band and it's not hard to see that in their work. The listener can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of straightforward, honest rock and roll with The Sights, a tribute to The Band's signature modesty.

"The band that's the polar opposite of that, and one we can't identify with at all, is Kiss. With all the makeup and stuff, they're just covering everything up. It's all fake," Baranek said.

Baranek is the bands' frontman and its only consistent member since their formation in 1998. Band members have dropped out and come back on several occasions resulting in a different lineup for each of the bands' three full lengths.

While their early releases Are You Green? and Got What We Want include some gems, it's their most recent release, a self-titled album, that best blends bluesy rock 'n' roll in the vein of Humble Pie with catchy pop elements to form a 12-song synthesis that will have you reaching for the play button over and over again.

The track "Circus" really highlights the coming together of The Sights' influences. A blues melody intermingles with the kitschy harmony of the chorus and it's all masked by Baranek's raw voice and a pounding drum beat.

Dylan-Ernst Schafer (April 4, 2008)

The Sights are a little too slick to be shoved into that "Garage Rock" label.

When the band took the stage and started into their first song, they quickly realized that lead singer/guitarist Eddie Baranek's mic was not on. They kept playing (for a total of close to 10 minutes) without vocals while the soundman, head down, bobbed obliviously to the music as the crowd yelled at him and Baranek kept trying to start the song. So, maybe it was due to the sense of anticipation, but when Baranek's voice finally did come out, and the Sights tore into a surprisingly long set, the crowd at the half-full Abbey Pub rocked with an energy I haven't seen when the place is packed. The Kills owe them a debt of gratitude.

During a rare lull in the Sights' set, an audience member, playing on their Detroit roots and loud, fun-rockin' ways, yelled out in a voice audible from upstairs, "You guys kick out the jams!" While the Sights certainly draw on their Detroit-rock ancestors, they have also obviously had a good, old-fashioned American classic rock radio upbringing, even taking cues from fairly unhip bands like Boston and even Golden Earring (the riff from "You Got What I Want", their show-stopping final number, bears an awfully close resemblance to "Radar Love") without irony. The Sights steer clear of simple '70s camp through clever songcraft and through the talents of Baranek, who has a booming voice and charismatic stage presence not usually seen in young frontmen. The Kills, the White Stripes, Jon Spencer, and countless others have made names for themselves by toying with blues conventions, but the Sights are one of the first bands I've seen that has succeeded doing the same with radio classic rock.

Chris Bailey (July 24, 2003)

www.motorcityrocks.com

The only way someone wouldn’t enjoy The Sights would be if they didn’t have a pulse. The Sights bring an energy and excitement to their music that is reminiscent of 60’s brit-rock. Combining sounds of Motown, The Who and early Pink Floyd, along with the Detroit garage style, The Sights have created a fresh sound of their own.

In a shameless retro hurrah, The Sights have released their glittering third album, self-titled, splendid and impossible to ignore for all the best, most exciting reasons.

"Circus" kicks it all off, laden with sexy, distorted vocals from Eddie Baranek, the only survivor from the band's original line up. Robert Emmett's Hammond organ married up with Mike Trombey's electrifying skin-bashing creates a sound reminiscent of acid jazzers Corduroy, but despite their obvious influences and unabashed mod sympathies, The Sights still offer fresh, untold thrills.

The album oozes eye-watering sexuality from every psych rock pore: "Will I Be True" will practically have you reaching for the post-coital cigarette within seconds. We are hauled back from this intoxicating haze every so often with a flourish of poetic sobriety, displayed to wistful perfection in "Scratch My Name In Sin".

But any thoughts of repentance are soon ditched, thank God, with tracks such as "Frozen Nose" irreverent, sleazy and the sort of thing that would have any self-respecting beatnik nodding their head.

"Backseat", bouncy and twinkling in all its vocally double-tracked glory, is a veritable tardis ride back to that truly, dare I say it, groovy part of the 60s that belonged to bands such as The Small Faces and The Who.

"Good Way To Die" is a bit of a steal from The Beatles anguish-laden "I Want You" from Abbey Road, complete with Lennon-esque harmonies and rather familiar organ bashing. Shall we let them off? I think so, especially as it transforms into the radiant Faces-like classic, "Stay With Me": a perfect encapsulation of rock 'n' roll raunchiness. The Sights don't bring anything new to the table, but if it ain't broke...

The Sights conjure a technicolour orgy of sonic perfection that never takes itself seriously. This uplifting album shows that, despite being dismantled and then rebuilt, the band sound stronger than ever.

Zoe Street (March 14, 2005)

The Sights Easy On Sore Ears

The Sights is a band with as many musical influences as a mental patient has personalities. Fortunately for them, each of these personalities knows how to rock.

The songs on The Sights' new, self-titled album range from Beatles-esque ballads to classic rock-infused jams. While the songs harken back to the golden age of music, they aren't likely to scare off music neophytes. Though the songs copy the oldies, they somehow still feel modern enough to hold their own in the modern marketplace alongside the likes of Franz Ferdinand or the Zutons.

Eddie Baranek, the band's lead vocalist, has an incredibly versatile voice that adapts to the individual style of each song. His vocals work equally well against the background of crunching guitars in "Last Chance" as they do against the epic cascade of organ music in "Circus."

Baranek even tries out the more contemporary, garage band style of crackling vocals in songs like "Will I Be True." This trend of singing poorly on purpose seems to be all the rage nowadays for some reason, but admittedly it does add a certain innocence and endearing quality to the vocals.

One drawback to having a musically split personality is that The Sights fail to latch on to an original, or even an ultimately definable, style. They'll probably be thrown into the overly generalized "indie rock" category, even though they slather their songs with Motown sensibilities and hooks from '60s pop rock.

Also, despite the fact that The Sights are such a cornucopia of musical styles, almost every ballad ends up sounding like a Beatles tribute and every song featuring the organ invokes "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" flashbacks. That isn't to say the songs aren't fun to listen to, or that they don't have contemporary appeal, they simply lack that new band smell.

What it all comes down to is that The Sights' new album is full of fun hooks, catchy choruses and a scattered assortment of interesting instrumentation (mainly as a result of their bassist/pianist/organist Bobby Emmett). They'll keep you rocking, keep you guessing and maybe even give you acid flashbacks. There's a distinct possibility, however, that eventually their undefinable, pick-a-genre-out-of-a-hat song style will leave you wanting them to risk more and copy less.

Shawn Patrick Greenm Elizabeth Thompson, Michael Petitti (April 21, 2005)

The Sights (Eddie Baranek - Guitar / Vocals), Robert Emmett - Piano/Bass and new drummer Mike Trombley) release their brand new self titled third album on Sweet Nothing and promises to be a superb slice of pop music that stomps and swaggers with a real style and could easily be likened to Nazz/Todd Rundgren and badfinger or material from the classic Nuggets box set, all with a modern twist.

While singer/guitarist Eddie remains the only original member of the Sights, it doesn't seem to stop them from establishing a strong, identifiable wallop of songwriting, stage presence and well rounded comfort that seems so rare in a rock and roll band these day. With their self titled third album, the Sights will be a force to be reckoned with. The addition of Robert Emmet on Piano (think Terry Reid not Ray Manzarek !) and hammond organ gives the band a colour-splattering spectrum to draw from, and don't forget Jim Diamond (Andre Williams) at the production helm, he makes what could have been just another sloppy lo-fi garage wankfest into the poptatstic promised land the likes of which Mickey Most and Joe meek have been proud of.

Zoe Street (March 14, 2005)

Hear The Sights

This is the story of the early 21st century: The Age of the Librarian. We all have record collections to the moon, the musical gene pool has been completely diluted, we don't dance and little if anything is ever fresh.

Just look around in the audience at a Sights show. "It usually is older music geeks who like us," confesses Sights singer/guitarist/songwriter Eddie Baranek. "But more and more of the youth faction is showing up to the gigs, and I'm loving it," says Eddie, who is a die hard record-head and general rock enthusiast. "I'm finally able to play for people my own age and their enthusiasm inspires me onstage to get fucking insane. If I can win over someone who is into Lit and has never heard of the Nazz, then that means more to me than someone who likes fuzz-psych-pop."

Magazines like Rolling Stone and Mojo spend too much time trying to make it seem like there is some kind of scene in Detroit. It just makes for a cheap and easy story, but Baranek's disagrees, "There is no scene here. There is just good music. Simple as that."

And the good music didn't just come out of nowhere. There has always been rock coming out of Detroit, but something special happened there in the early '90s with the first Gories records. It seemed that that was when the whole roots-rock/garage revival started. "Mick Collins and the Gories -- yes," says Eddie. "The first time I heard those Gories records it fucking blew my mind. I still can't put those records down, and the songs! It's cool to be into the Gories now, but did they ever achieve notoriety when they were around? Whatever, they are great. "

The Sights have two records under their belts, an original sound, are barely able to drink at the bars they play, but sound like they've been together for 10 years. All without the help of a big label. Their new record, Got What We Want, is a gutsy romp of classic pop, R&B, psych and straight-up rock. "[Got What We Want] was written and recorded under no pressure," says Eddie, "We made a record we wanted to make -- for ourselves. It is a nice surprise to find that others have enjoyed it so well."

Got What We Want doesn't take a bad-ass pose, it doesn't try to be over-authentic, and it doesn't worship at the altar of minimal contrivance. A lot of people might be surprised that a popular R-O-C-K band from Detroit who often gets lumped into sentences with the White Stripes and the Von Bondies is doing power-pop, and merseybeat and psychedelic rock. They'd actually be better off in sentences with Outrageous Cherry and the Slumber Party.

"We are too pop for the rock 'n' roll crowd and too rock 'n' roll for the pop crowd," Says Eddie. "A major challenge in my songwriting is combining the poppier/melodic elements of a song with the aggressive noises in between. Sure, you can be loud all the time, but after a while it just becomes one big noise. Unless that is your aim, to be annoying."

So, unlike the multitudes of contrived, 'keepin' it real' rock bands on the scene out there, the Sights defy comparison to a traveling Beatlemania performance troupe living in a vacuum. Case in point: they've recently taken on a keyboardist as a full-time member of the band, adding a fantastic, sometimes symphonic, texture to the songs. Eddie explains, "I can't play with another guitar player 'cause I'm too selfish. But with an organ player, the band sounds fuller. Nate [Cavalieri] had always been one of my favorite players around town, and we kept trying to get him in the band but he was always too busy. When he joined it really came closer to the sound in my head that I wanted. One of my fave groups, the Small Faces, had a fantastic organ/piano soul sound. I'd like to try that too."

Hmm, the Small Faces. That sounds a lot better than, oh, I don't know, AC/DC. Why are the media trying to sell us this notion that bands like the Vines, Hives, White Stripes, let alone Mark Kozalek, are interested in reviving classic rock? "I think people want to recreate their childhood and relive it," Eddie quips. "Hence, you have people into this bad music because they are either A.) finding their roots again, or B.) too lazy to find better music." But would Eddie buy into the supposition that the new wave of garage bands has to acknowledge that 1966 turned into 1967? It's just a matter of time before it all turns to Sgt. Pepper, isn't it? Eddie doubts it: "I don't know. I don't really care for Sgt. Pepper, I like S.F. Sorrow better (the Pretty Things). Maybe garage will go prog and resemble Yes' Close to the Edge."

And listening to the Sights music, you can tell that this is a sincere statement. A lot of bands listen to the albums that Eddie doesn't listen to at all -- like Big Star, T-Rex, Syd's Pink Floyd or even the Pixies. "I don't listen to Big Star or the Pixies," says Eddie, "I guess I'm supposed to like Nick Drake now, right?" Meanwhile, Eddie's got his own freight car full of little influences: Little Milton, Little Walter, Little Willie John, Little Richard and Little Eva.

The moral to the story is that you can't pigeonhole an original band. You can't guess what they are listening to, or what they like, because it's never that simple. Good pop is always going to sound like something familiar to somebody else, because all of the formulas work for a reason. Good songwriters just get swept up in the subtle weight of the tradition.

I feel fortunate that I got a chance to talk to Eddie and the Sights at this perfect phase in their career -- before they are ruined forever by the massive success that just may befall them on the wings of all of this "White Strokes" mumbo jumbo. Before we see them on the cover of Q Magazine, posing with Himalayan tigers.

"Are you going to let success ruin you, Eddie?" I inquire, "Will you still be posing with Chihuahuas in five years?" referring to the hilarious photo that comes with their promo kit.

"It's a Siberian blue point cat," he corrects me. "I don't want to ride on anyone's coattails. We don't want to, we don't have to. This band has been around since 1998. We didn't form after hearing all this new rock revival stuff."

"Certainly we're not going to be hearing horns and strings on the next album, are we?" I ask.

"Maybe an out of tune sax," he spouts, "but that's about it."

Jonathan Donaldson (May 12, 2003)

Let me start by saying this. I admire any band that can tour for about three to four straight months with no break and playing in front of rock-hungry crowds almost every night. I know I sure as hell couldn’t do it, and don’t know many people who can so I tip my hat and will hand a beer to any band that can. One of those bands is Detroit’s The Sights.

Last night The Sights played to a pretty nice sized crowd at New York’s Bowery Ballroom. Granted a lot of people were there to see the hyped up Mando Diao, but I was glad to see a lot of people show up early to check out the rock and roll goodness known as The Sights. After seeing this band live it is easy to see why people like Jack Black have quickly become fans. The stage presence is great, the energy is high, and the threesome really knows how to rock out. Starting their set with the first song off their newest album, The Sights, the boys managed to set the tone for the night with “I’m Gonna Live The Life I Sing About In My Song”. In an almost rock and roll fury songs of both old and new were pounded out and there was very little banter between songs. It was obvious that the band was there and they meant business. I now know what it must have been like to see a rock show in the ‘60s. Combining the best of gritty garage rock with the psychedelic sounds of a circus organ, the trio is reminiscent of The Doors, meets Supergrass with a hint of The Small Faces and The Who. Not too shabby! Highlight songs included the aforementioned “I’m Gonna Live…” and “Circus”, the band’s current single. I might also add that it was also pretty cool to hear the dueling solos of the organ and guitar. Did I mention that during this lead man Eddie Baranek was able to climb up on Mark Trombley’s organ and not lose the momentum of his freak out guitar fest? Made for a pretty exciting ending if I do say so myself.

Do yourself a favor if you are near one of their cities they have yet to hit. Go see them live, you wont be disappointed.

Erin Chandler (May 19, 2005)

Sights not set on rewriting the rock 'n' roll rule book

Even when they're blatantly aping those that have come before them, most musicians are convinced they're reinventing rock 'n' roll. It's refreshing, then, that the Sights' singer-guitarist Eddie Baranek not only gives credit where it's due, but is also eager to do so. Suggest that "Just Got Robbed" off the Sights' self-titled third album sounds like Ike and Tina Turner rolling with the Dirtbombs, and he concurs. Offer that "Baby's Knocking Me Down" draws as much from the skinny-tie-years Jam as it does the shagadelic-era Beatles, and he says that's not inaccurate. And venture that "Waiting on a Friend" displays a more-than-passing indebtedness to the pioneering alt-country of the Flying Burrito Brothers, and he'll even take things a little further.

"When I look at that song, I hear Johnny Cash's lead guitarist Luther Perkins and his doom-chicka-doom-chicka sound mixed with the Kinks' Ray Davies in a pastoral-country, 'Muswell Hillbilly' kind of mood," Baranek says, on the line from his Detroit home. "And 'Frozen Nose' is indeed a typical Ike and Tina rip-off; I'm glad you picked up on that. I made a very conscious effort-or maybe it's unconscious-to blend my influences, of which there are many."

That's helped set the Sights-who open for the Donnas at Richard's on Richards on Saturday (April 23)-apart from their Motor City brethren.

"We're a schizophrenic pop band-I'm as into Traffic as equally as I'm into Supergrass and Ike and Tina," the 23-year-old says. "Some songwriters will be like 'I'm into nothing but the BellRays.' I'm not going to limit myself."

That attitude has both worked for and against the Sights, who might be the Motor City's best-kept secret. Refusing to pledge total allegiance to the blown-piston-rawk movement that made Detroit hipster heaven in 2003, Baranek watched as acts like the Dirtbombs and Von Bondies scored big with North American scenesters. With independent-record-store clerks now fixated on U.K.-minted new new wave, the Sights at least don't have to worry about sounding like yesterday's buzz band. What makes that ironic, of course, is that The Sights is, as Baranek proudly cops to, an unquestionably retro-sounding record, with much of its charm coming courtesy of Hammond organ whiz Bobby Emmett.

Former Smashing Pumpkin and current A Perfect Circle guitarist James Iha is definitely a fan, having signed the band to his New Line label. "He came to see the Datsuns in New York when we did two shows with them at the Bowery Ballroom," Baranek says. "But evidently he was like 'Whoa-who the fuck is the opening band?' He bought all our stuff that show, then came the second night and bought us shots all evening. Eventually he was like, 'Ummmm, I have this label…'"

The Smashing Pumpkins are one act the Sights don't remotely reference, but Baranek has his theories as to why his band caught Iha's attention.

"How about that we take the pop songwriting tradition of Motown and combine it with the raw sound of Memphis?" he asks. "We can also do Small Faces rock with a dirty-ass Hammond sound. Basically, we mix it up enough that people are never bored."

Mike Usinger (April 21, 2005)

Tonight, we're going to party like it's 1974. Our hosts: The Sights, straight outta Detroit. Their sophomore album Got What We Want could be easily passed off as some long-lost power-pop artifact. And we're not just talking about the music--even the cover art fits this premise. For proof, check out those hairdos the band members are sporting! It's like they took a copy of Big Star's Radio City to the barber shop and asked for "the Jody Stephens Cut, please."

To be called a "retro" band is almost always taken as an insult. But when I call The Sights retro, I mean it in the best of all possible ways. And I get the feeling the band would wear such a tag as a badge of honor. These guys really know their stuff: they can hit those high, Raspberries-style harmonies, they can rock out in a garagey, Nuggets-derived way and they can peal off scorching glam-rock guitar solos.

Main songwriter Eddie Baranek proves himself an adept melodist on the album's eleven tracks, veering from the early Beatles sound of "It'd Be Nice (To Have You Around)" to the, uh, later Beatles sound of "Be Like Normal." Hey, if you're going to cop melodies, why look any further than Lennon/McCartney, right?

Suffice to say, Got What We Want doesn't break any new ground. But it's actually pretty refreshing to hear a totally un-pretentious Rock (with a capital "R"!) band doing their thing. The Sights seem perfectly happy to live in the past, listening to the album will make you perfectly happy to be taken along for the ride. Until the time machine is invented (Please, be soon!), The Sights may be the next best thing.

Tyler Wilcox (December 17, 2002)

The Sights are set on rock success

Eddie Baranek is about as casual a man as you're likely to meet. Calmly, he comes across more as a California surfer than the lead vocalist and guitarist for one of Detroit's most rockin' outfits, The Sights. Who'd you expect?

The Sights bring all the influences of their hometown, from greasy rock to Motown, into their music and still remain as instantly embraceable as fellow local favorites The White Stripes. The band admits to being influenced by the likes of Ike and Tina Turner, as well as Solomon Burke, but for Baranek it was not through conventional means.

"I never really grew up hanging out with black people," Baranek said. "I grew up in white suburbia and the R&B I got, personally, was like what my mom's Motown hits were."

Willing to embrace all of their disparate influences, The Sights are reluctant about accepting one label: garage rock. Baranek sees the success of The White Stripes as the root of such comparisons.

"I think indirectly (The White Stripes' success) helped us and indirectly it's hurt us," Baranek said. "It's like, OK, bring up the Jack (White) question, I won't answer it, but whatever. I was reading this article in The Stranger in Seattle where the guy, the writer, Eric Davidson, kind of blamed us for not being garage anymore. It was kind of like 'I didn't know we came out of the garage in the first place.'"

Baranek has a rightful beef as The Sights' sound has always owed more to The Beatles and Motown than Iggy Pop, The Stooges and The Velvet Underground. Baranek thinks it's mostly tired journalists and critics who are lumping them into the overtired genre.

"This band's always come from a more pop and songwriting standpoint," Baranek said. "If people do lump us into this garage and Detroit thing, its kind of nauseating because that's only like one-eighth of our sound. That's just laziness on other people's part."

What cannot be overlooked or ignored is The Sights' hardworking attitude. The band has toured relentlessly and released three full lengths since their inception in 1998. This production is particularly stunning given the initially high turnover rate of the band, which included a revolving door of drummers and bassists before settling on current (and original) drummer Mike Trombley and bassist/pianist/organist Bobby Emmett.

"We've always had other really good musicians stepping up to the plate wanting to be involved when others left," Baranek said. "We never had a shortage of talent. I've been very fortunate to be surrounded by good musicians."

The Sights' determination and hard work is finally paying off with their latest album coming out to rave reviews in March and tours with The Donnas and, strangely enough, the blues-garage male-female duo, The Kills.

"It's always good when you can steal some fans," Baranek said. "Like from The Donnas you get the cuter, young girls and with The Kills all the hipsters come out so you can steal some of the jaded people as well, hopefully, and make them into your fans."

With emerging success come corporate endorsements. Baranek is pleased to see his small band from the big city getting some recognition.

"Yeah, we've had some offers and some interest, which is really cool to kind of see that kind of shit happen," Baranek said. "I just turned 24 and grew up watching '90210' and The Flaming Lips were on that and that almost seems like the start of it to me. I remember watching that going 'What the fuck, how did The Flaming Lips get on this?' Like for 'The O.C.' to bring that stuff in is a really awesome positive thing."

But make no mistake, The Sights did not begin making music with the intention of ending up on the soundtrack to a show about young, pretty people with problems.

"We started a band because we wanted to make out with girls and get free beer and get into shows for free," Baranek said. "We were so young we couldn't get into any of these Detroit bars and pretty soon we're making an album, then we're making two albums, now we're touring our brains out. Like four years ago I was like 'Holy shit we're opening for The Creation,' now it's like 'Whatever, they're just a bunch of old guys, we'll blow them away anyway.'"

With a cocksure attitude and prolific output it's no wonder these Detroit boys are finally getting the attention they deserve. Move over Jack and Meg; The Sights have future plans for success.

"Tour our brains out for the next year," Baranek said. "Have our significant others get really mad at us, hopefully make some monies and get on 'The O.C.'"

Michael Petitti (April 21, 2005)

It is a great name – so obvious, it's amazing no one seems to have used it before. Who could resist being taken out to see The Sights? I can't pretend that the Detroit quartet (right) offer anything original, but their recreation of music past is so deft and catholic that they transcend their influences. So, "It'd Be Nice" is pure Mersey Beat; "Got What I Want", the title track of their superb second album, apes The Yardbirds; and "Nobody" is a pure McCartney rocker, that greatly undervalued subgenre. The singer-guitarist, Eddie Baranek, could be a real rock god, part-Cobain, part-Marriott (for the older folks), and he howls like John Fogerty, too. Investigate this great band.

Steve Jelbert (February 21, 2003)

This young three piece release one of the best debuts of 2002.

With the addition of Nate Cavalieri on keyboards, (Eddie Baranek - Guitar/Vocals, Matt Hatch - Bass/Vocals, Dave Shettler - Drums/Vocals) mix the high energy charge of the Small Faces and the power drumming of Keith Moon, with some 70's boogie rock, add a touch of Phil Spector and you get something resembling the Sights. Every note of 'Got what we want' displays the band's catholic attention to the last 40 years of classic pop and rock, the Zonbies, Big Star, the Band and the Stones to name only a few.

Three Imaginary Girls

One could imagine it would be quite a daunting task to open up for the Datsuns – an act critically acclaimed for their high energy performances and nonstop punches of purist rock. Thank goodness the Sights were chosen for such a mission. Without them, I wouldn't have gotten what I came for – honest to goodness garage rock nodding to the Zombies and the Jam. They've truly earned their tangible ties to their Detroit brethren the Detroit Cobras, Ko and the Knockouts and the Henchmen with their talent to create stunning songs worthy of the grand decibel at which they played.

Got What We Want is a melodically complex and accomplished album, and ample evidence that this young band from Detroit have a tacit understanding of what made primal '60s garage rock and early-'70s power pop so exhilarating and memorable in the first place. Not only do the Sights seem like they've educated themselves with repeated listenings to albums from a Rock History 101 syllabus, but they have an audible confidence and forcefulness that one usually only finds in bands who've been playing together for many years. Indeed, they have: Eddie Baranek (vocals/guitars/keyboards) and Mark Leahey (bass/vocals) have been making music together since 1995, when both were classmates at De LaSalle Collegiate High in Detroit. In October 2001 -- a few short months before they were to enter Ghetto Recorders to record this sophomore effort for L.A.'s Fall of Rome -- Baranek and Leahey made the decision to replace longtime bandmate Eugene Strobe (now playing with the Witches and the Alphabet) with a new drummer, Dave Shettler (ex-Moods For Moderns). This last-minute switch-out might have slowed the band's momentum, but now seems to have renewed their resolve to successfully accomplish the task at hand. Consequently, Got What We Want is a concentrated and well-produced group effort with strong and varied songs. The super-charged power pop numbers -- "Don't Want You Back," "Be Like Normal," "Sweet Little Woman" -- are rife with crunchy guitars, catchy percussive elements, and memorable hooks. Meanwhile, the title song, "Got What We Want," and the last track, "Nobody," recall the bombastic heaviosity of Mott the Hoople, Humble Pie, and Led Zeppelin at their most glorious. The main bass riff from the blues-soaked "Nobody," in fact, plays like an homage to Zeppelin's "How Many More Times?" (the song -- with lyrics purloined from Albert King's "The Hunter" -- may have also provided the Sights with their moniker). There's also an enjoyable assortment of keyboards on the album; drummer Dave Shettler contributed Hammond organ, while the swirling Mellotron was provided by organist Nate Cavalieri, who was added to the lineup in March 2002. The fathoms-deep Got What We Want should provide the Sights with a promising and (hopefully) propitious future once the world discovers its many treasures. ~ Bryan Thomas