"(Doom) is spooky as fuck."

Lizard McGee, Earwig

NEWS

Sift’s final release, Denouement, now available!

Stream on all digital platforms – search for “Sift Denouement”

Vinyl for sale direct from Sift at Bandcamp!

Denouement

Justin Burmeister and Curt Meinhold reconnected in North Carolina in 2012. They started jamming together on older Sift material, and eventually began writing new material. They released Sift’s fourth full-length CD, We Fear Wolves, in October 2017. It was the first time that they’d fully embraced programmed drums and percussion and made heavy use of sampling.

Justin Burmeister passed away from cancer in November of 2020. He and Curt had been working on a new album at the time. Curt decided that this final batch of tracks would signify the completion of the Sift project.

Sift’s final album, Denouement, is available now on all digital streaming services and stores. The vinyl release can be purchased from Bandcamp:
https://siftmusic.bandcamp.com

Click the image to the right to view the full documentary, Denouement.

HISTORY

Exposition

Sift started out in Boston in the early 1990s as Speeny Bowl Wagon. Curt Meinhold, Kimon Greenland and Ron Gittens wrote the initial songs that would be recorded at Powerhouse Studio by Stuart Covington. Jesse Vena played drums for those sessions. The sound was a collection of their influences with hints of The Cure, Jesus Lizard, The Smiths, Pavement, and many others.

Todd Berozsky took over drums and became the fourth in 1993 and three more cassette demos were produced with that lineup between 1993 and 1995.

Kimon Greenland left the band in 1995 and Justin Burmeister joined. The “Alone” demo was produced which included fan favorites Song for Judy and Star.

The sound had evolved to feature elements of 70’s Prog, 80’s Metal & Darkwave, 90’s Alternative, and even Post Rock.

Complication

In 1996 Ron and Justin left the band, and were replaced by Deep Chinappa and Rob Papagno. New material was produced, and the name changes from Speeny Bowl Wagon to Sift. The music during this phase took on a more technical and heavier personality. Deep was able to introduce aspects of Middle Eastern structures and melodies to some of his vocal work.

During the recording of the album Yellow, Rob left the band. Justin was asked to help complete the recordings. During that time, the title track was actually written and recorded by Curt and Justin.

Yellow was released in 1997 and the band began to play regularly around New England, as well as branching out into NY and as far south as North Carolina.

In 1999 Deep was replaced by Godjivah, who brought new layers of influence to the band. She was a powerful singer, who’d come up singing in the church, and brought an amazing amount of power and emotion to the vocals. The live album “If There Was A God” was released in 2000.

As Sift began to find traction, and perform more regularly, Sue Mikes took over vocal duties from Godjivah in 2001.

Climax

Rains for Tyler was a full album of new material that was released in 2002. The song “Helicopters” found its way onto local radio, and was covered live by the local goth band Amber Spyglass.

Rebecca Tognacci then replaced Sue in 2003. New material was produced and the album “The Desperate Hope” was recorded and released in 2005. The band continued to perform and grow their fan base, but external stressors started to present challenges, and by 2006, none of the band members lived within 100 miles of each other.

Neverwill

Neverwill was the song that connected Justin with Sift from the very beginning. In 1995, it was a new song that did not have a guitar part – the bass and drums had been written. Justin played the exact part, with no input ahead of time, and the band knew he was the one. For the final album, Denouement, Justin and Curt revisited the song and updated it from the 90s Alternative track it was to something quite a bit different. The video contains footage of Curt and Justin’s last rehearsal and show together, before he passed away in 2020.

MUSIC

Selections below from the three decades that Sift wrote, recorded, and performed. You can also listen to Sift’s full catalog on almost all streaming services. It may be necessary to provide extra content when searching – “Sift Denouement” or “Sift We Fear Wolves” – as if you just search for Sift, most platforms assume you want Taylor Swift.

VIDEOS

A selection of videos below, but you can visit the Sift YouTube page to view all videos. Because Sift was around for some time before platforms like YouTube were available, much of the video recorded still exists today on VHS tape. There is a hope of digitizing and releasing all of it, someday, but it is not a promise.

Helicopters (2005) 4:30

Song is from Sift's 2005 album, Rains for Tyler. Can be streamed or purchased from your preferred platform. Footage is from the 1903 silent film Alice In Wonderland.

Nerve (1998) 4:23

Ron Gittens re-joins Sift for an unplanned performance of Nerve at Jacques' Cabaret in Boston, MA.

Transformation 4:11

Last track from the 2017 album We Fear Wolves. Special thanks to Nick Yarris for his recording on this track.

Contact.

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