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Sic Alps are a noise pop group from San Francisco and perennially lysergic musical outlet of Mike Donovan, who formed the band with Adam Stonehouse (The Hospitals) in 2004. Current incarnation includes Noel Von Harmonson (Comets on Fire), Douglas Armour and Tim Hellman. Ty Segall is an occasional, reoccurring figure in the live band and on recordings. Sic Alps' sound could be described as a combination of early nineties lo-fi and Bay Area's sixties psychedelia. Read more on Last.fm
If you came in on the Sic Alps game at “US EZ” or later and then ventured back to their first LP, “Pleasures and Treasures,” and wondered how in the hell that evolution happened, well here’s your answer.
I don’t know what it is about the disjointed nature of this particular release that appeals to me so much – maybe because disjointed is the only way to describe Sic Alps’ sound. While the “Description of the Harbor” EP alone is perhaps a more perfect distillation of their juxtaposition between “shitgaze” gods and total fucking weirdos, the second disc is just as essential because I think it gives a lot more context for that latter side: without side breaks you get the full frontal assault of the Alps’ twisted vision, a jarring amalgamation of full-on noise assault and pop smarts that’s only enhanced by the fact that a lot of this wasn’t originally conceived to go together the way their LPs were. It’s not a great place to begin with the band, but once you’re sold on their principles it’s a necessary stop.