Kendall is kind of like the Miami music scene's middle child. We all know it's there, but we either don't notice it or just don't care. That's a shame. Because there is some serious talent coming out of our neglected southern sibling. For proof, look no further than Sigh Kicks.
Sigh Kicks is a group of 20-something Kendall kids made up of singer and guitarist Kris Alvarez, bassist Jean “Doodles” Dominguez, drummer Matthew “Cougar” Borroto, and guitarist/synth player Sebastian “
Its music is all retro, tropical indie, and the band's attitude is one that oozes boyish charm, even over the phone.
Underneath all the jokes and running gags, there’s a seriousness to the group when it comes to its music and the constant push to get better.
This is especially true after having experienced what the band considered a career-defining moment back in
“Had we not played that show, I don't think we would have gotten even half of the opportunities that we've gotten in the past four months,” says Alvarez.“We definitely got a lot of recognition from that. If not in the overall sense of people's recognition, we definitely got the ear of local promoters and venues and stuff like that,” says Alvarez.
Since that gig, the group has had a chance to perform with personal local heroes such as Afrobeta and Krisp, who have been a big help to Sigh Kicks as well.
“They're the ones that keep hooking us up with these crazy shows. They keep putting in good words for us, and we're like beyond honored and humbled,” says Alvarez.
Lately, the group has been working on its first EP. Although the bulk of the writing is completed, the album is still very much in the preliminary stages. A majority of the six-track EP will be songs familiar to audiences who have caught a Sigh Kick’s set, but two tracks will be completely new songs.
One of those songs, tentatively titled “Messi Sucks,” as it was first worked on around the previous World Cup, was miraculously saved from an odd glitch on its recording program that detuned the song and surprisingly made it sound better.
“Now it might be the most solid song in the album,” says Dominguez. And you might very well get to hear the track for yourself when Sigh Kicks plays at Modernage's ten-year Churchill's reunion show this Saturday. Despite the many opportunities that have risen for Sigh Kicks, the group has adopted a philosophy that some might consider odd for a band. The members don’t really like promoting themselves much, feeling that too many local bands overdo it.
“We don't really promote ourselves that hard, and the downside to that obviously is that we're not really getting ourselves out there as much as we could be,” says Alvarez.
“I still hold firmly that I think if you work hard enough in your own craft and you work hard enough in booking smart shows and good shows, if you do things like that correctly, then these opportunities come to you," says Alvarez. "We don't have to do all the promotion any other band would have to do because we've been lucky enough that we've caught people's ears and they liked us. That's two hurdles you have to cross right away, and we did that without really trying to promote really hard."
Modernage's Ten Year Churchill's Reunion with Sigh Kicks, Deaf Poets, Millionyoung, and Krisp. 9 p.m. Saturday, August 1, at Churchill’s Pub, 5501 NE Second Ave., Miami; 305-757-1807; churchillspub.com. Admission is $10.
