Overreaction Time

Following in the footsteps of their hometown heroes Hnsker Dn and likeminded debasers the Pixies, the members of Minneapolis' Sicbay take pop hooks and mangle them into guitar insanity. The band's second album, Overreaction Time, starts off with Herculaneum, a song with a title and spiraling intensity that would do Black Francis proud, crossing straight-up punk rock with the noise of Jawbox. But Nick Sakes and company are also given to {prog-y} experimentation, like on the rambling Smoke Stains, and it lends the album a dynamic vibe. Meet the Jinx is like some dark, lost track from SST's heyday, and Jack Pine is one fierce slab of {post-punk} surf rock. Overreaction Time may initially have listeners digging out their old Pixies records, but by a few songs in, the album solidifies Sicbay as a seriously demented and unstoppable band in its own right. ~ Charles Spano, All Music Guide