10A - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 6, 2005 ARTS Detroit garage vets The Sights discuss rock at The Blind Pig * By Evan McGarvey Daily Music Editor The Sights seem young, like they just got finished with trig classes, the weirdest kids in their private school. They play rock hard and half-drowsy, half raised on Robert Johnson and AC/DC, the worst of both, the best of both. On Friday, in a dark corner of The Blind Pig, they talked about the band's formation, playing music at all corners of the globe and took some subtle shots at sacred rock cows. Eddie Baranek started the band at De La Salle high school in Warren, and after three albums and years of touring, he's the only person from the band's original line- up still involved with the group. He birthed The Sights and he's not afraid to refer to it as his "baby." Even the band's beginning had a hint of the auspicious. "In high school, rumor had it that (original member) Mark Lahey owned a bass guitar. I found him and we start- ed it. The summer before senior year we had been playing shows, hanging out with 25-year-old girls, getting wasted. We had gotten made fun of before that year for having a band, but once we started senior year, we felt pretty good about ourselves." Baranek mentioned going to a Monkees concert in Pittsburgh and buying AC/DC's Highway To Hell as early experiences from his youth. He said he's a little ashamed of his first concert, but he's certainly not shy about tak- ing aim at any golden boys in the newly celebrated Detroit rock scene. When asked if he agrees with Jack White's recent assessment of The Stooge's Fun House, he quickly replied, "Don't care." "Any time you reach a certain level of fame, a level of negative press must come to the same level. It's like a bal- ance," he added. He doesn't hold back when it comes to Iggy Pop either. "Dude smeared peanut butter on his chest? Peanut butter is delicious; you're supposed to eat it." Baranek left for a sound check onstage and Bobby Emmett, piano/organ player and a member of the band since June 2003, slid up to the table in.Baranek's place and calmly mentioned that Baranek handles most of the inter- views before launching into a half-joke monologue where he repeatedly mentioned his love for the ultra-obscure Tee- garden. Once he quieted down, he rattled off fond memories from touring with indie-rock elder statesmen Guided By Voices. Not surprisingly, most of the good stories revolve around GBV's frontman and notorious booze-hound Bob Pollard. It's eerie hearing such aged stories from someone who looks barely older than anyone in your English class. Emmett fidgeted with his hands as he talked about Bollard swearing at crowds at European festivals and watching FOREST CASEY/Daily Singer/guitarist Eddie Baranek pulls no punches when discussing everything from his band's foundation to touring with Jet to Detroit music scene luminaries such as Jack White and Iggy Pop. 0l one of the guys from Jet passed out from smoking a small block of Swedish hash. Reserve clearly isn't the band's strong point, as after telling the hash story, Bennett quickly added, "Oh yeah, we played with Jet. They were kind of pussies." Bennett then started talking about his favorite countries in Europe in terms of beer quality before Baranek returned to the table. When asked about his approach to song writ- ing, he said that ever since Emmett joined the band, The Sights have been using both himself and Emmett as song- writers. "You can be a pissy Nazi (about songwriting), or you can invite another. It's Darwinism - having two song- writers forces the weaker songs to get cut. There needs to be more Darwinism in songwriting. As you get older you don't get those moments when you were younger, you know, you listen to a new song and it totally stuns you. It happens less now." And just like that Baranek paused, looked at his half- drunk beer and fell silent. FOREST CASEY/Daily Bobby Emmett, piano and organ player for The Sights, talks about playing the European festival circuit. 1 U "' Avoid the lines! Purchase Your Textbooks Online www.shamandrum.com Place your orders online, pay by credit card, and pick up your books 24 hours later with no lines! rw d ++^..t Shaman Drum Bookshop 313 S. State Street (734) 662-7407 UM students: open a Free Student Checking account and get a chance t win an iPod*5 Shuffle.* PLUS, YOU'LL RECEIVE A FREE T-SHIRT.** With features like free Online Banking, a free CheckCard and plenty of ATM locations, a National City Free Student Checking account simplifies your financial life. And now it gives you one more reason to put off doing the laundry. UM students, open a Free Student Checking account at one of the branches listed below and be automatically entered for a chance to win an Apple iPod Shuffle, plus you'll receive a free t-shirt. Hurry in. Limited-time offer. THE BIGGEST BACK TO SCHOOL 0 0 I~~~~~~M kW V ~'S ... . . I