Suspicious Icons

Just this once, accept the record store clerk’s word like a breakthrough scientific study when he tells you a band like Sicbay doesn’t come into your life very often. Sicbay is a natural phenomenon, a power trio bursting like three magnetic fields in tandem. On the Minneapolis-based band’s third full-length, Suspicious Icons, Nick Sakes’ voice bleeds like a Rorschach inkblot: both soft and coarse, depending on how closely you’re listening. Deciphering Sakes’ mood swings is a worthwhile challenge, and only his poly-rhythmic guitar seems to know what he’s thinking, echoing him beautifully every time. Meanwhile, Dave Erb is a more-than-able sideman, his lead guitar a guiding mobile through the rocky Pangaea.