REAL SICKIES: “The song sounds dirty, but it’s all about fossils”

BLENDING the very best of indie, punk, and new-wave, calling on The Ramones, Devo, and Teenage Head for inspiration, Edmonton’s powerhouse outfit REAL SICKIES today release long-player ‘Under a Plastic Bag,’ via Stomp Records, the album written between whirlwind international tours, late-night demo sessions, and chaotic live performances.

“’Under a Plastic Bag’ came together between shows that felt like they were booked by throwing a dart at a map blindfolded,” said frontman, Ben Disaster. “We once had to do a two-hour set in Jasper Alberta, so we ended up playing the full new album before we actually knew how to play it. Local punks loved it, management hated it. Really hated it.”

Focus track ‘Wild Imagination’ [below] is accompanied by a Jesse Nash created video, and a backstory as strange as its sound. “The song sounds dirty, but it’s all about fossils,” adds Disaster. “I got really into fossil hunting, especially petrified wood, and spent days walking through a creek in Edmonton, soaking my feet and humming this tune. The lyrics came together in trickles. It’s quirky, it’s personal, and it’s very much a part of the journey this album represents.”

Engineered and produced by Joshua Wells (Autogramm, Lightning Dust), ‘Under a Plastic Bag’ was recorded in Edmonton’s Riverdale Recorders during one of the city’s coldest winters on record.

“Josh flew in from Chicago and joined us in our Little Italy studio in Edmonton,” Disaster explained. “We hunkered down with coffee and sandwiches, sometimes only sleeping five hours a night. It felt right – it was positive, freeing, and creative. We had a lot of songs and big ideas, but everything came together in that short, freezing stretch of time.

“We built a fort in the studio to keep warm, drank endless coffee, and powered through long nights. The cold and isolation somehow fuelled the energy of the recordings. It was a weirdly perfect environment to make a record about chaos, resilience, and piecing things back together. We tried to make an album in a time when singles dominate, something cohesive and immersive.”

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