Real Sickies – Love Is For Lovers

Alberta: Top 10 of 2021

by Christine Leonard

Yes, Virginia, they’ve stolen your slogan – and, just maybe, your heart. But who would dare hold it against this sugary pop-punk goldmine. Edmonton’s Real Sickies were a remarkable bright spot under the darkest of skies during this past year – infecting eardrums and airwaves with their effortlessly uplifting rock anthems. Romantically inclined towards surging guitar riffs and well-coiffed crooner vocals, these YEG heartthrobs had fans swiping right for a guaranteed good time on the first listen.

Bo Burnham’s transcendent comedy special isn’t the only great piece of COVID-adjacent art titled Inside released this year. The indie-rock quintet’s latest opens and closes with the sounds of the 7pm clanging pots and pans that once heralded the essential workers, and many of the tracks find them grappling with introspective thoughts while trapped in a room – being stuck inside one’s own head being an even worse fate than the physical boundaries.