Song of the Day: The Sidekicks - Deer

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters, is “Deer” by The Sidekicks from the 2015 album Runners In The Nerved World on Epitaph.

The Sidekicks - Deer (MP3)

There's something very Northwest about the The Sidekicks' new album, and it's not just the view on its cover. The Ohio band didn't just snap the pic from Seattle's Pier 62 like any other tourist, but rather they absorbed the good part of a local summer while recording Runners In The Nerved World with producer Phil Ek at Avast Studios. Ek's influence is clear. The Sidekicks' punk past is nearly forgotten on glimmery pop numbers like today's featured song, and the album's first single, "Deer". On it, vocalist and guitarist Steve Ciolek (who visited Seattle also with his other band, Saintseneca) hits sublime falsetto like other notable Ek producees - Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes, The Shins, Built to Spill, et al - while the band punches forward with the perfect balance of sheen and fuzz to appeal to any aficionados of 90's and 00's Seattle rock.

The Sidekicks will be LIVE on KEXP on Wednesday, March 04, at 1:00 PM before playing Black Lodge later that night. Keep up with the band at their Facebook and Tumblr and below, watch a live performance of "Deer".