Deriving their name from frontperson Abisha Uhi’s former roommate Sarah, who had once claimed that she had grown tired of her name and complained that she was “sick of Sarah,”  the Minneapolis, MN-based quartet Sick of Sarah are in the midst of a momentous year – this year marks the band’s tenth anniversary and just as important, this year also marks the release of their forthcoming EP, Anthem. During that decade, there have been a number of issues that have plagued and even ended countless other bands including a couple of lineup changes, a break with their long-term label home Adamant Records, increasing financial instability, and the pressures of relentless and exhausting touring. And in many ways, the EP slated for a June 30 release serves as a statement album – the sort of effort that loudly and proudly says “we’re still fucking here, goddamn it!,” and reveals a band that refined (and perhaps perfected) the sound that has won the quartet both regional and national attention.  

“Blind,” the latest single off Anthem bears a resemblance to the EP’s previously released single “Rooftops” in the sense that both tracks are slickly produced and rousingly anthemic songs, comprised of angular and stabbing guitar lines layered with shimmering guitar lines underneath, throbbing bass, thundering bass, punchy harmonies and the sort of catchy hooks that channels 120 Minutes-era alternative rock – in particular, The Juliana Hatfield Three, The Cranberries and Veruca Salt. At the very core of the song is a dysfunctional relationship, the sort of relationship that has you doubt yourself and your worth and yet you’re irrevocably drawn and pulled towards it in a ways you can’t quite explain yourself – and yet, there’s a part of you that knows it’s wrong. It also manages to point out the fact that most of our relationships are entered into completely blind. Much like “Rooftops,” there’s a sense that song was written with an earnest urgency – the sort that would come from hard-fought personal experience.