Music Review // Sickpay "Pureocracy" (Alien Body Music)

https://sickpay.bandcamp.com/album/pureocracy

To me, sick pay as a form of compensation has always been a big deal (perhaps even bigger than the salary) and more people should really be talking about it.  Especially with the global pandemic, we get to this point where we realize people go into work sick all the time because they simply cannot afford to take time off.  So one employee comes in with a head cold because they can't afford to miss a day's pay and what happens? Six to twelve other employees also get sick.  Everyone gets sick.   And the bosses don't care about the health of their workers.

This is actually addressed in the final song on this EP, called "Sick Pay", but I'm getting ahead of myself.  Sickpay has created a five song EP here which has sounds like some other bands but not a lot.   The first song, "Quiet As A Joke", has this slower, heavy on the distortion way about it which makes me think grunge.  It reminds me of They Might Be Giants mixed with The Flys.  Artists such as Pavement and Marcy Playground come out throughout this EP as well.  "How Many Times" is a faster bop that could have that underlying melody of that one Rob Thomas song that was on the radio briefly.  

As we get to the end the sound becomes more defined.  "Generosity" is a faster paced song full of distortion which reminds me of Campground Effect but I'm not sure how many people will get that reference.  "Sick Pay", the final song, begins with this ska/punk sound which makes me think of Operation Ivy but then it just kicks into that electronic distorted synth party which makes me think of Andrew WK.  The way it blends those two artists so easily is definitely worth the listen.  This song also has the line: "You don't need a job when you're dead", which I fully agree with and feel like needs to be discussed more.

Even if it only feels like it is on the last song, the artist being named Sickpay should bring to light a lot of the facts surrounding how corporations really want to work people to death.  This is certainly the type of sound that if you were alive to experience the radio change from Nirvana to Mighty Mighty Bosstones you will appreciate, but also with that not-so-hidden message about workers rights this EP becomes even more important.