The Sleights

Local punk musicians never truly fade away, they just form new bands.

Take The Sleights, for example: The group was started by Luke Blanton, formerly of Murder Hat, and Phil "Dez" Dezellem of Dave Mansfield & The LAMFs, who began writing songs that moved away from Murder Hat's ska influences to a more stripped-down punk sound.

"We've gotten the whole, 'You guys must really like The Ramones' comparisons," explains Dez. "We work hard to write good music, creating an ode to what we loved listening to growing up." They then enlisted old friends Abe Groves, Tim Alexander and later, Billy Thompson to fill out the lineup.

The Sleights are currently recording their second EP and have already played opening slots for The Toasters, Teenage Bottle Rockets, and, last weekend, Texas punk band Ese and local sludge/grind metal outfit Tree of Woe.

You can catch their "very loud, very fun, very simple" sound at the Black Sheep on July 3 with California punk act Voodoo Glow Skulls (see interview, here).

Shiii Whaaa is another punk band that coalesced from other groups. Singer/guitarist Pete Sisson and bassist Bryan Webb were members of the Nicotine Fits and the Conjugal Visits, acquiring drummer James Ivy after recording a three-track demo together.

Like The Sleights, they have already had brushes with punk royalty, opening for the Angry Samoans at their very first show. Armed with new material and recently enlisted guitarist Bryan Sespico from Cincinnati's Prohibitionists, Shiii Whaaa will be joining The Sleights in opening for SoCal punk supergroup The Adolescents and first-wave punk band The Weirdos on July 19 at the Black Sheep.

Despite those who espouse the hackneyed view that punk rock is dead, the Sleights and Shiii Whaaa are quite happy and optimistic about the local scene.

"Our music scene always has ups and downs. The early 2000s were more of a downer, but the last 10 years have been more of an up, in my opinion," says Sisson.

Blanton agrees: "The overall scene is as good as it's ever been since I moved here from Wisconsin 10 years ago. There are tons of bands recording and touring, which is a great sign that the Springs scene is growing." However, he also acknowledges the scene is still small given the city's size, and describes the punk scene as "thin at the moment."

"Getting new people out to shows is always a challenge. Too many people are afraid that the heavier punk and metal shows are dangerous. Honestly, they are far safer than riding at the skate park, or even shopping at Walmart."

Blanton also points out the need for bands to support each other.

"There are a number of younger punk bands coming up and they are really doing it right," he says, citing 45 Revolutions and The Youthful Nothings as examples. "We played with both of these bands and they actually stayed after their set was over to watch us, which is wonderful. Many of the older bands we play with bail the second their set is done. 'Always stay, always watch,' is my advice to other bands. We frequently see the members of the best bands in town at shows that they are not playing. This support is remembered by the other bands and definitely helps cement the scene." - Colorado Springs INdependent