Features

With their signature blend of raw energy, biting lyrics, and anthemic hooks, Colorado Springs punk rockers The Sleights are back with their second full-length album, This One’s Gonna Hurt. Set to drop digitally and on vinyl this Friday, April 25 via Rad Girlfriend Records and What’s Left Records, the 12-track record is a guitar-fueled punch to the gut—in the best way possible. Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Felipe Patino at Green Door Recordings in Denver, the album captures the band at their most focused and ferocious. We caught up with vocalist/guitarist Luke Blanton to talk about the new record, the band’s evolution and how sweetened popcorn is weird. 

PRT: Cliché way to start, but how did The Sleights come together?

Luke: The Sleights was an experiment that I tried after my last band had ended the same way as every other band I had ever been in. Meet some people, write some songs, play a few shows, maybe record, maybe not, ultimately disband.  I have been self employed for years so I tried running a band like a business.  Turns out that is a much smarter way to do things.  Originally I was just going to hire guys to play live, but they quickly became permanent members.  I bought a full back line, a van, recorded an EP and printed merch all before our first show.  Taking things seriously and being goal driven has really led us to where we are today.

PRT: Was there one single moment that made you decide you wanted to be in a band?

Luke: That's hard to say.  I grew up in rural WI and there was not a lot to do pre internet during long dark winters.  At 14 I found a guitar in the basement (72 Japanese Epiphone Acoustic) and literally played all day every day for a few years.  At 15 I saw my first real show (Beck on the Odelay tour), headlining the famous First Avenue in downtown Minneapolis.  It was amazing and I was 100% hooked at that point.

PRT: Sleight is described in the dictionary as ‘the use of dexterity or cunning, especially so as to deceive.’ So who are you trying to deceive and how?

Luke: The stupid answer is that we are trying to fool people into thinking we are a great band. The real answer is it really doesn't hold a deep meaning to us.  We like the sound, even though no one can pronounce it properly.  I also think it looks great on a shirt.

PRT: I read somewhere on the internet (so it must be true) that you were already planning to hit the studio for the second album back in 2020. Was it because of the pandemic that it took until now to release it?

Luke: Part of it was pandemic trouble.  The other parts were constant, and I mean constant line-up changes.  Every time we would record a record, a new drummer would have to be trained and tour on the last guy's recordings.  Todd finally broke that Sleight’s curse this year and we are lucky to have him!  We do well in and love playing SLC.  Our very good friend Kidd always laughed when we showed up for shows as we had a different line up 9 times in a row.  Again Todd broke that curse.

PRT: Calling your album This One’s Gonna Hurt doesn’t seem like you are selling it well :) Or is it a statement about life in general?

Luke: I wrote most of this record during one of the worst years of my life.  Writing the songs was really the only thing that kept me pointed forward.  The music is happy but if you really pay attention to the lyrics, you will hear how really sad most of this record is.

PRT: The songs on the album deal with a lot of real life problems, like depression and relationships gone sour. Is writing a way for you to work through things? Or are the lyrics not necessarily based on your own life?

Luke: I write to feel better.  The songs are about real things but written in an open way where hopefully the listener can relate.  Bridge to Nowhere however is 100% written about literal things that happened to me in the summer of 2001.  That song is hilarious to me.

PRT: Musically, you seem to be influenced by the likes of The Bouncing Souls and Face To Face. Is that the general kind of sound you wanted to go for with The Sleights right from the start? 

Luke: I really love the upper midwest punk sound.  Growing up in between Green Bay, Minneapolis and Chicago, I went to as many shows as I could.  Many people over the years pick up on that sound in our music.  I never went for a specific sound.  I just write songs that are fun to sing and I like to hear.

PRT: The new album will be out on Rad Girlfriend Records and What’s Left Records. I didn’t know What’s Left Records and saw that it is a record store in your hometown of Colorado Springs. How do they factor in?

Luke: The owner is a dear friend and we have a saying in Colorado Springs.  It's not DIY, it's DIT.  Do It Together.  Bryan and I are always trying to help each other out and work with many local and touring bands to always try and make the scene and its shows better.  I originally asked him for advice about pressing plants as we were planning on a self release.  He was stoked on the project and wanted to release 25%.  Same thing with Josh at Rad Girlfriend.  He was stoked on the record and wanted to help out.  That's how we love doing things.  With our friends!

PRT: What are five things someone from Europe needs to order from the US right now before they become too expensive thanks to Liberation Day? Yes, one of those things can be a vinyl copy of This One’s Gonna Hurt.

Luke: I used to live in Germany so I am going to narrow the question down to just Germany instead of the entire continent if that’s cool.

• Not just This one’s Gonna Hurt, but all three of our records obviously.
• Peanut butter.  Germans don't get it nor do they like it.  I am always trying to get it to catch on over there.
• Salted popcorn.  They put sugar on it.  It's weird.
• I think American whiskeys and bourbon prices will probably suck soon so get it now.
• It's been pretty difficult to think of much more as we really don't make anything here anymore.  The only things my Euro friends ask for are merch or records.  Good luck to us all though.