The Sights

The distinction between a riff and a hook is totally lost on most bands scavenging today's retro-rock wasteland. Detroit's the Sights not only know the difference, but they synthesize power and pop into a seething, brilliantly infectious mess of rock-and-roll soul. Singer/ guitarist Eddie Baranek formed the trio in the late '90s while still in high school, and he began perfecting his vision over the course of 1999's Are You Green? and 2002's Got What You Want. Faced with the world domination of their neighbors, the White Stripes, Baranek and crew kicked the noise even one notch higher with a brand-new, self-titled disc. Signed by ex-Smashing Pumpkin James Iha to his Scratchie Records imprint, the Sights have all but crystallized their tuneful attack: a convergence of the Who, the Prisoners and the Spencer Davis Group that locks punk kinetics into organ-gouged grooves and a deep, psychedelic undertow. Garage-rock may be losing steam, and deservedly so, but hopefully the world won't lose the Sights anytime soon.